School’s Out! It’s Summer! … Now What?

Summertime is one of the most joyful times in a child’s life! But while summertime can (and should!) be a period of fun and relaxation, parents should not overlook the importance of friendship building and maintaining social communication opportunities for children with Selective Mutism (SM).

As many parents of children with SM realize, children rarely “become confidently verbal” with peers without comfort, purposeful exposures and practicing skills.

Therefore, parents should create frequent and consistent opportunities for peer interaction throughout the summer. This will foster friendships as well as social and communication confidence.

Ideally, choosing peers who can be in your child’s class or neighbor friends. For some children, just having 1-2 peers at home, in their safe environment, may be enough to create the comfort and spontaneous verbalization.

While others may need more parent /adult facilitation. Choosing high interest and task-based activities, parents to facilitate engaging activities (Handover/Takeover), focusing on the other child first (to decrease expectation), asking choice or direct questions, and focusing on visual tasks of high interest, helps to lower anxiety and help the child progress into speech.

While having awareness to environments that feel safe and not overwhelming to a sensitive child, outside of the home activities, such as visiting parks, public pools, etc. and taking friends to restaurants and stores is a way to foster relationships, help build social connections but also to practice skills.

With awareness to comfort level, baseline stage of communication and parent awareness to what skills to implement, below are sample peer social interactions during the summertime:

At home, parent/adult facilitated and task-based peer get-together ideas include:

Blowing bubbles
Drawing letters using chalk in the driveway
Baking, reading recipes out loud
Arts and crafts
Creating a lemonade stand
Team backyard scavenger hunts

These activities should foster engaging, build skills, and encourage children to use sounds and phonetic words. We encourage parents and adults to “gamify” these activities by giving children points or rewards for ‘playing games’ that allow for communication progression.

Outside of the home, parent/adult facilitated get-together ideas include:

Going to the movies
Attending an outdoor concert
Going to a water park, nature center or zoo

These activities should allow children to Handover/Takeover money to staff, provide a great opportunity to practice greetings and respond to common questions. These activities also allow space ‘scripted’ questions with respect to the communication stage they are working on.

With summertime upon us, getting creative and making consistent and frequent time for peer socialization will benefit every child with SM as comfort, confidence and communication skills increase. In addition, it will allow for a smoother transition into the next school year.

Elisa Shipon-Blum DO2024-06-19T15:12:52-04:00June 19th, 2024|Comments Off

About the Author: Elisa Shipon-Blum DO

Elisa Shipon-Blum DO, is the President and Director of the Selective Mutism Anxiety and Related Disorders Treatment Center (SMart Center) located in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. She is the Founder and Director Emeritus of the Selective Mutism Association (SMA) and a Director of the Selective Mutism Research Institute (SMRI), a foundation established to study Dr. Shipon-Blum’s theories and treatment methodologies on Selective Mutism. In addition, Dr Shipon-Blum is Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology & Family Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a board certified physician who specializes in Selective Mutism. Dr. Shipon-Blum practices in Jenkintown, PA, and has developed the evidenced-based Social Communication Anxiety Treatment (S-CAT)® from her years studying and researching individuals with Selective Mutism. She consults worldwide with families, treating professionals, and educators, and has helped thousands of children from around the world overcome Selective Mutism. Based on her successful S-CAT® program, Dr. E also created CommuniCamp™, an intensive group treatment program for children with Selective Mutism, social anxiety, and extreme shyness. Dr. Shipon-Blum lectures throughout the country on the topic of Selective Mutism, performs school evaluations and training for treating professionals, educators, and parents, and is considered one of the world’s leading experts in the treatment, research, and understanding of Selective Mutism. She has been a featured expert on national television programs such as 20/20, CNN, Inside Edition, and Good Morning America, as well as other local, national, and international television and radio broadcasts. In addition, she has been featured in TIME Magazine, People Magazine, and has interviewed with newspapers such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, San Diego Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Palm Beach Post. Dr. Shipon-Blum is presently involved in multiple collaborative research projects with top researchers and clinicians. In addition to her research she has written numerous articles and books on Selective Mutism and anxiety including ‘Easing School Jitters for the Selectively Mute Child,’ ‘The Ideal Classroom Setting for the Selectively Mute Child,’ ‘Understanding Katie,’ ‘Supplement Treatment Guide Book to Understanding Katie‘, ‘Selective Mutism Summer Vacation & Back to School Guide‘ and ‘ Selective Mutism and Social Anxiety Disorder in School .’ She has also produced numerous DVDs on the topics of treatment and assessment of Selective Mutism, and the development of school accommodations and interventions for mute children. Dr. Shipon-Blum (or Dr. E as her patients refer to her) prides herself on being ‘down to earth’ and ‘easy to speak to’, and resides with her family in the northeast suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Notably, she is also the mother of a child, Sophie, who suffered from and overcame Selective Mutism and is the inspiration for the work she does each day.