1 on 1 w/ Maureen (a mom whose son overcame Selective Mutism)

In this Unspoken Words Short, Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum (Dr. E) sits down with Maureen, whose son Lucas first came to the SMart Center for treatment at age three. Together in this episode, they to look back on his journey with selective mutism.Lucas is now 16, plays in two rap bands, and has no memory of selective mutism being part of who he is. But Maureen takes listeners back to who he was before treatment: a toddler so verbal at home that it shocked her to learn from his teacher that he'd never once spoken at school, and whose sensory sensitivities to noise, crowds, and textures turned out to be the real root of his silence.Maureen walks through what changed things for her family: discovering "comfort before communication" as the guiding principle of treatment, working with Lucas's school to build in playdates with his teacher, informal "spot work" from a speech therapist, and a buddy system, all before ever pushing him to talk, and learning, as a parent, to step back and stop speaking for him so he could find his own voice.The conversation closes with Maureen's advice for families still early in the journey: that there is real hope on the other side, that following the gains and trusting the process works, and that connecting with someone else going through the same experience can turn an isolating struggle into a shared one.Thank you for listening to Unspoken Words, a selective mutism podcast hosted by Dr. E and the SMart Center, produced by New Editions Productions. Have a question for a future episode? Submit it through the Ask Dr. E form at SelectiveMutismCenter.org/askdre.Follow us on Instagram (@UnspokenWords_Podcast) and YouTube (Unspoken Words by Dr. E), or join our newsletter for more content. New episodes release every other Monday at 6am Eastern.

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