The role that schools hold in supporting young people with selective mutism: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Schools are expected to hold an increasingly central role in co‐ordinating support for children with mental health needs. However, the role that schools hold in supporting pupils with selective mutism (SM) is complex. Through a Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS), this review explores the multidimensional role which educational settings hold in supporting children with SM. Key databases were searched (PsycInfo, British Education Index, Education Resources Information Center, British Library EThOS and Google Scholar) and a conceptual map, informed by experienced practitioners, guided additional purposive searching with a focus on conceptual saturation. A total of twenty‐four papers were identified following a further process of appraisal. Reciprocal Translational Analysis (RTA) found that schools hold a tripartite role in supporting children with SM: this incorporated developing a shared understanding of the disorder, engaging in effective (and often multi‐professional) planning, and offering direct support through adapting provision and facilitating individual intervention. Through realising this role, schools and educational settings might transform the support currently available for children and young people with SM. Implications for practice, policy and future research also emerged. This included a clear need for enhanced teacher understanding of SM, arguably at the level of initial teacher training (ITT).

The role of educational institutions in supporting children and adolescents with selective mutism

“…Literature analysis also indicates that cooperation with parents, sharing experience and knowledge, and developing parent-teacher communication play a key role in the therapeutic process in SM. The need for such cooperation should be emphasised, as it is known that parents of children with SM often experience symptoms of anxiety themselves (including social anxiety), and this may be one of the reasons why they sometimes inadvertently amplify the symptoms of SM in the child (White and Bond, 2022). Educational institutions play an important role in changing the perspective on teaching and raising children with special educational needs -from thinking in terms of "what is needed", "what it should be like" to "what should/can be done" in the context of the emotional well-being of the youngest children.…”

“…Teachers and specialists employed in schools can provide such support in three dimensions, i.e. (1) self-improvement and educating others, (2) identifying, planning and coordinating support for students at school, (3) creating conditions that will allow for optimal development in the teacher, peers -SM student -student's parents triad (White and Bond, 2022). Understanding the disorder by teachers and other school staff is key to supporting SM children in the school setting.…”

“…The role of school is therefore also to provide workshops and training for parents who do not understand what SM is. Working in the student/parent/teacher triad to create optimal conditions for the child's development is of key importance, especially since there is evidence that parents play a key role in the context of longterm treatment outcomes (White and Bond, 2022). Educational (school) psychologists seem to be the best prepared to support teachers working with SM students and their parents (Conn and Coyne, 2014;White and Bond, 2022).…”

“…Working in the student/parent/teacher triad to create optimal conditions for the child's development is of key importance, especially since there is evidence that parents play a key role in the context of longterm treatment outcomes (White and Bond, 2022). Educational (school) psychologists seem to be the best prepared to support teachers working with SM students and their parents (Conn and Coyne, 2014;White and Bond, 2022). They can also help plan an individualised behavioural intervention, which, if implemented in the setting where the symptoms of SM manifest, is the most optimal form of support, as evidenced in literature.…”

“…In addition to the above-mentioned interventions, the literature offers many other methods to foster the development of communication that school personnel can use to support SM children. These include creating safe zones/islands in the classroom (areas with reduced verbal demands), using visual timetables and establishing procedures in graphic form (White and Bond, 2022), creating a safe atmosphere, following the principle of gradually increasing the communication load, extending the waiting time for a response, using audio/video recordings in the communication process (Bystrzanowska, 2018;Kovac and Furr, 2019), and finally implementing elements of music therapy at school. Triggering emotions and activating feelings with the use of elements of music therapy helps initiate verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as facilitates building interpersonal relationships (Kos, 2022).…”