Selective Mutism is a social anxiety disorder where a person who is normally capable of speech finds it extremely difficult to talk in social surroundings or situations. Most of the time, he or she can still talk at home to their family.
The duration of the diagnosis is at least one month (not limited to the first month of school).The failure to speak is not due to a lack of knowledge of, or comfort with, the spoken language required in the social situation.The disturbance is not better accounted for by a communication disorder, and does not occur exclusively during the course of a pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic or language/speech disorders.
On a negative side, we find it difficult to maintain eye contact. We often don't smile and have blank expressions. We move stiffly and awkwardly. We find situations where talk is normally expected particularly hard to handle. We tend to worry about things more than others. We can be very sensitive to noise and crowds. We find it difficult to talk about ourselves and express our feelings. Some sufferers have been diagnosed with other issues such as social phobia and depression (Yes, it really is that bad.). Some sufferers will self-mutilate. Some have been put in mental hospitals and such, all due to lack of so much misunderstanding.
On the positive side, many sufferers have above average intelligence. Are sensitive to others' thoughts and feelings; empathy. We have very good powers of concentration; we are not choosing to not speak when you ask us to or are in a situation where speaking is required. We are in fact focused and more than aware of the answer or situation. We often have a good sense of right, wrong, fairness and justice. We can define people in a way that others cannot, in other words, see right through their personalities or traits; determine what kind of person they are.
