How about when you have a child who is nonverbal because of selective mutism and you want him to have professional help. You call professional after professional and you hear that when a child is nonverbal it is a sign of abuse and until they can rule that out by talking to him ALONE, they cannot begin treatment. (But they are willing to wait him out and charge you until he begins speaking...)
Blaming the parent before they even see you! As well as ignorance of the diagnosis you are seeking.
That was very useful information. I had not heard of selective mutism. What I found especially interesting is how some interpret this as a sign of possible abuse. Thanks, this is very useful.
Given the information on selective mutism, I would classify my daughter as having selective anxiety. I think who ever came up with the term selective mutism is just not noticing the anxiety effects all skills not just speech. It is a scientific fact that skills are reduced as the level of hormonal and emotional levels shift from normal. Even being extremely happy will cause a reduction in skills. One of the difference in people is the degree at which the level changes affect skill changes.
I also have very selective anxiety. The only difference between my daughter and myself is the degree anxiety affects my skills. This barely affects me, but I am quite aware of the preference I feel towards certain people over others. Interestingly enough, my daughter seems to have the same preferences for the same people. As she has gotten older, the effect of the anxiety on her skills has dropped off significantly.
I suspect the common aspect of the people she shows anxiety towards are people who talk down to others using a tone in their voice. This is something that does not seem to run in my family or my friends. I even found a scientific paper once (can't find it anymore) where they could even identify leadership structures by analyzing the tone used in conversations.
Once she gets to know one of these less preferred people, instead of showing shyness when they use the tone, she stands up to them with her extreme stubborness.
Psychology is in the dark ages!!! There has been a lot of progress in cognitive sciences over the last decade. Especially since the nature side of psychology was finally allowed to be talked about. As in most professions, a lot of people seem to stop wanting to learn as soon as they are out of school. This goes for a lot of the educators as well.
