Meet Kaelyn

Kaelyn’s 6th grade teacher brought concerns to Kaelyn’s parents about her lack of participation in the class and simply not responding to questions. Kaelyn admitted to her parents that her anxiety had grown to the point where she couldn’t speak in class.

Through the SMart Center, Kaelyn was able to build her comfort, confidence and social communication skills needed to excel in the classroom and beyond. Kaelyn’s family pursued the Individualized Intensive, CommuniCamp™  and monthly follow-ups to gain the momentum they were looking for. Since starting treatment, Kaelyn has now made more friends at school, can freely speak to her teachers, advocate for herself, and has joined extracurriculars like choir and marching band!

Read more about how Kaelyn overcame SM below!

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How old was your child when you first noticed he/she was mute in select settings?

13 years old.

Please briefly summarize where/when your child was mute/not mute.

The classroom is where she would become mute. Kaelyn was always quite quiet as a small child both in and out of school but she did not feel anxiety about talking in the classroom until the 5th grade which is when she noticed her ability to participate in the classroom diminished and then stopped talking in class in the 6th grade.

What brought you to seek treatment at the SMart Center?

I got a call from her teacher who showed concern towards Kaelyn because she noticed she wouldn’t answer her and she wanted to let know about it. That’s when Kaelyn told me she can’t talk in class. I quickly researched reasons why my child felt like her words were stuck and frozen when she was asked a question in class and the term “selective mutism” popped up in my search. So I then took my search over to a local Facebook community group and that is where I found a recommendation for the SMart center. We will forever be thankful for that teacher, Dr E and the S-Cat treatment!

What SMart Center services did you use?

  • S-CAT® Individualized Intensive Treatment Program (One- or Two-Day)
  • CommuniCamp™ Intensive Group Treatment & Parent Training Program
  • Follow-Ups
  • Medication Consultation
  • Virtual groups
  • Assessments

How often do/did you consult with the SMart Center?

We started off with monthly visits with Dr. E, then down to every two months and now every three months.

What changes have you noticed?

Kaelyn has made so much progress! When she started treatment she had a small circle of friends that consisted of one maybe two people and hardly had much social interactions with them but now she has a circle of 9 friends and is in contact social contact with them. She went from not being able to order her own food or asking for help when needed to ordering her own food, shopping, asking teachers for help for directions in the hallways in the new high school, advocating for herself to her teachers via email (which was previously very difficult for her), she now sings in the choir (even sang by herself to her choir teacher) plays in the marching band and is even considering signing up for stage crew for her school’s upcoming musical! And she even answered a couple of questions in front of the classroom in her Spanish class on the second day of high school! She is a happier girl over all and I see her confidence growing as she keeps going with this momentum of awesomeness!

What S-CAT® strategies helped the most?

For Kaelyn what helped the most was us, her parents, stopping using our voices for her. We put her in the front line and she ordered the meals, she asked the waiter for a drink, she paid for items at the register. The more front line exposure we gave her and stopped rescuing her and speaking for her the more comfortable she became with using her own voice.

Do you have any “key” advice for parents going through it now?

My advice would be for the parents to use Dr E’s approach with front line exposure and do not give up! It can be a slow start but once the ball gets moving and your child sees the progress their making their confidence goes up and we just took that momentum and really rolled with it and made such amazing strides and changes. Also, joining the band played a role in her finding her confidence, so if possible I highly recommend joining a group activity like the band or a sport or a club to help foster those social interactions with peers.