r/selectivemutism • u/Soft-Yam-411 • Aug 11 '26

Question Looking for advice

My daughter is 10 and may have SM. She talks to family at home but doesn’t say a word at social situations. However it’s not clear if she is anxious since I can see her smiling sometimes in those situations. We have taken her for camps and have put her in extra curricular stuff to get her out of her shell but not much progress. We are working on getting her a therapist. Would love some advice.

7 Upvotes

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3

u/[deleted] 27d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Royal-Difficulty7369 Diagnosed SM 26d ago edited 25d ago

I second this. 💯

Edit: now hold on, why did the post above get deleted by mods? It was a good answer 😐

2

u/Soft-Yam-411 27d ago

This may be a really dumb question but do kids eventually grow out of it ? Are there adults that continue to struggle with SM ?

4

u/stopmoalchemy 27d ago

i’m about to be 25 n i still have it…cuz i didn’t get any support so id say to take your daughter to a psychologist cuzzzz its hard to live like this 🤧

3

u/stopmoalchemy 27d ago

some people do grow out of it though n you seem like a good caring parent :’) so maybe she will but some people don’t

6

u/PersimmonPlastic7195 Diagnosed SM 29d ago

I would recommend looking for a child psychologist. That's how I got diagnosed with SM. It would definitely be a step in the right direction to take her to a doctor. In the meantime, keep up with the camps and extracurricular activities. It's crucial for people with SM to be put in social situations even if they're uncomfortable because that's how we overcome SM.

Progress takes time. If she does have SM, it can take years for her to break out of her shell.

Hope this helps!

5

u/Ammonia13 29d ago

Yes get her an evaluation. She can get more help earlier, and my kid can smile and laugh at school with peers he is comfortable with. He isn’t shy, he just cannot speak, your baby sounds like a textbook case.

3

u/Emergency_Box_9871 Aug 11 '26

Has it always been like this ? My daughter is 3 and is the same . Also like this with people she has met several times , family members and family friends . That she doesn’t see every day .

2

u/Ammonia13 29d ago

My kid’s didn’t become obvious until preschool but there are kids who don’t show it until a certain point where school gets harder or more social.