Meet Virginia

Ever since Virginia was 4 years old, she was completely mute outside of her home and could not speak to anyone outside of her immediate family. After trying local treatment options, Via’s family discovered the SMart Center!

Via’s family attended our June CommuniCamp™  and then followed up with a parent training session. Since joining us for CommuniCamp™, Via is now fully verbal in school, with friends, and in real-world settings! Read more about how Virgina overcame SM below!

–

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

3 years old.

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

Via was fully mute outside the home by age 4. She would speak to only her immediate family, no one else.

Was your child in treatment for Selective Mutism before finding the SMart Center?

Yes, we tried local treatment before finding the SMart Center.

What brought you to seek treatment at the SMart Center?

We worked with no less than 4 local therapists. None had a working knowledge of SM and all were an ill fit for Via. She continued to retreat deeper into her social anxiety and the therapy sessions reinforced that pattern of behavior. When the last therapist tried to force Via to speak and then blamed me (her mother) for causing and perpetuating her condition, I knew we needed to find specialists. My relief at finding the kind and competent approach from the SMart Center cannot be overstated.

What SMart Center services did you use?

  • CommuniCamp™ Intensive Group Treatment & Parent Training Program
  • Parent Training & Coaching

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

We attended the June 2024 Communicamp and I have had one follow-up parental coaching session since then.

What changes have you noticed?

Via has come alive! During Communicamp in June 2024, Via went from complete silence to speaking in full sentences to her counselor after only two days. This was the first time she had spoken outside the home in 4 years!! Via and I continued to work intensively with Sounds to Words for about 3 weeks following camp, specifically with her school teacher. By the first week of her summer school session (4 weeks after Camp), Via was speaking fluently to her teacher in private. She then proceeded to begin speaking to one or two classmates at a time, completely on her own, moving straight from silence to full sentences. By the end of the summer term (7 weeks after Camp), she had spoken to everyone in her classroom. By the beginning of the fall session (10 weeks after camp), she gave a short in-class presentation and is able to speak to most new people in real-world situations. In her own words, “I can speak to the world now!!”

Of course, this is not the end of the road, but the beginning. Via and I continue to work on building comfort in crowded places, managing her anxiety in higher stress environments, learning/practicing expected social protocol, and how to choose her own safety when presented with a situation that makes her uncomfortable. These skills are ever-evolving, the work is ongoing, and the practice is no less hard. But, now we are able to tackle these situations as a team based on understanding, trust, and respect with proven tools at our disposal. This change in dynamic for us has revolutionized our relationship and allowed us to move forward together in a loving, healthy way.

What S-CAT® strategies helped the most?

Sounds to words was Via’s ticket to gaining comfort and confidence. This technique was vastly different than any other treatment we tried in that it puts the child in control of their own process across the communication bridge. The parent becomes the guide and a support in that process, giving the child independence, choice, comfort, and freedom.

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

The best advice I received was during a panel discussion at the June 2024 Camp. One of the parents on stage said she had made every mistake you can possibly make as a parent of an SM child during her own learning process. Despite that, her daughter was still successful in overcoming SM. She encouraged us all to move in self compassion and that success is still possible no matter what mistakes happen along the way. Her words resonated deeply with me, as I hope they will with you.

My overall thoughts are ones of gratitude for the SMart Center and their expertise. I am incredibly grateful for their evidence-based approach focused on comfort and confidence for the child and education and support for the parents. Both my daughter and I now feel equipped to handle challenges as they arise.