What Does Non-Verbal Mean?

Discussion Children can be non-verbal for many reasons with most just not wanting to talk in a given situation for a short period of time (e.g. angry with a person, scared to give a speech at school, etc.). Children may have the ability to communicate verbally but for some reason it is physically impaired for a period of time. Selective mutism (SM) “… is characterized by an individual’s consistent failure to speak in social situations in which there is an expectation to speak (e.g., at school), despite speaking in other situations.” The lack of speech cannot be due to discomfort speaking in a given language (i.e. a person learning a new language) or be due to another developmental condition or communication disorder. It must occur for at least 1 month. The prevalence rate ranges depending on the group studied. In a general population setting about 0.7% has been cited. Symptoms generally appear between 2-4 years. Children usually will not speak in a public or semi-public setting and are more likely to speak at home. The cause is felt to be multifactorial with an interplay between genetics (there is increased rate of relatives with SM, anxiety and social phobia), temperament (more common in persons who avoid unfamiliar situations), environment (more common in immigrant children, where the problem is out of proportion to the language acquisition or may occur in both languages) and development (more common in children with motor delays, speech or language...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news