If a child has selective mutism, forcing her to talk tends to make things worse, not better. If my parents had enforced the rule that if I wanted to eat I'd have to order for myself, I'd have starved to death first. Obviously I'm not saying that that is what your child has, intparent, and the fact that it worked means that it almost certainly isn't, but I don't want people to think that it's always a great idea to force kids to talk if they don't want to.