Experiences of Mothers Who Spend Life with Their Children with Selective Mutism from Childhood to Adulthood

Abstract

This study elucidates the experiences of mothers who spend life with their children with selective mutism from childhood to adulthood. The study participants included two mothers who were interviewed individually about their life stories. Each narrative had subheading subthemes, and each coherent story was named with a theme indicating the overarching content.

Three themes emerged from A’s narrative: “patiently waiting for her child’s growth as a mother while observing her child’s difficulty in speaking outside the home,” “distressed by inappropriate support as she struggled to resolve her child’s truancy, but continued to search for the appropriate support,” and “living her own life while considering her child’s future due to changes in her perspective of her child who could not speak.”

B’s narrative generated four themes: “despite her child’s worrisome development, she managed it by thinking that she could,” “her child was diagnosed with selective mutism, but the anguish built up in the mother and her child due to a lack of treatment and understanding from those around them,” “various supporters who understood the situation of her child with selective mutism helped improve the mother’s and her child’s life,” and “she found direction for her own activities through participating in a self-help group.”

An environment in which parents recognize the need for early professional intervention and seek support while their child is young, a support for the whole family to look after her child by being sympathetic to her and her child’s pain, and an encouragement that enables parents to accept their child’s situation and enrich their own lives are required to support parents and families of children with selective mutism.