Meeting Educators Where They Are: Professional Development to Address Selective Mutism

Children with selective mutism (SM) present unique challenges for teachers. Typically, children with SM have such an immense anxiety associated with being seen or heard speaking they fail to speak inside the classroom and particularly with teachers. This article reports on the effectiveness of a small-scale exploratory study involving 22 participants in a targeted professional development (PD) workshop on SM. Using a pre-post questionnaire design, the researchers explored the potential of PD to contribute to increased knowledge and awareness of SM as well as conceptual changes in the strategies used to support children with SM within inclusive classrooms. The PD workshop contributed to enhanced levels of knowledge and educators' confidence in addressing children's needs and may be a first step in addressing the dearth of literature on the teaching of children with SM as well as inform future professional development needs of teachers. (Contains 2 figures and 1 footnote.)