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Subject: Re: [MK8] selective mute... update!

From: LOUISE EDDINGTON

Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 02:51:07 -0700 (PDT)

I'd leave it unsaid. I'm sure he'll know by your smile and other plea=
sed reactions that you are happy. Verbalizing might just overwhelm=
him. I've always heard that selective mute children will speak wh=
en they are good and ready...and this proves it. He finally felt c=
omfortable enough in your classroom, but had to do it on his terms. G=
REAT NEWS. Thanks for sharing this. The only time I dealt with this was a 1st grade resource room boy I had whe=
n substituting (after retirement) for the resource room teacher. I ju=
st kept it low key with him, but one day as I dismissed his group, he turne=
d to me and said "Don't you know you are supposed to WALK ME BACK TO MY ROO=
M?" Oh my. I just about fell over. But he returned =
to his mutism the next time. So don't be surprised if he does NOT continue speaking, although hopefull=
y he will.
Louise

--- On Thu, 5/13/10, Paul and Meredith Inserra wr=
ote:

An update: A few years ago I told y'all about a little boy I had who was=
a "selective mute." ... This year he's in 4th grade and a couple of week=
s ago he raised his hand, I called on him, and he responded to a question.=
Inside I was jumping up and down, but I tried not to let on how excited=
I was because I didn't want to embarrass him. Yesterday he came up to m=
e to ask me a question while we were giving out materials for an activity.=
It's so great that he now feels comfortable enough to speak to me. I=
want to tell him how proud I am of him for speaking to me and how heartwar=
ming it is to hear his voice, but I don't want to embarrass him. How would =
you tell him without making him feel uncomfortable, or would you leave it u=
nsaid? I just wanna grab him and hug him!!!!!! But I'm afraid, as a 4=
th grade boy getting over an anxiety disorder, he'd be horrified at that ki=
nd of attention. LOL!-----