Is there such thing as mild selective mutism...

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Nikadee43
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29 Apr 2012, 8:47 pm

....or would it basically be considered extreme introversion? There are days where I can be really talkative and be comfortable with it, even when it's small talk or with strangers. Then the next day I get up and can't stand the thought of talking to anyone at all. Not my roommates, not my co-workers, barely even the customers at work (although I obviously have to since it's my job so any energy for talking i have is reserved for that task). The idea of going through the social motions just sounds like the worse thing in the world, and even when someone says something to me and I intend to answer them just to not seem rude or so they don't think that I specifically don't want to talk to them, words don't come out. I either don't respond or respond very shortly to keep the conversation as brief as possible and to get the person away from me. This will continue for pretty much the entire day, maybe a couple of days. If I'm in a really deep depression, people may as well not even try because they won't get anywhere unless the dialogue absolutely requires response or is really important. Even then, I have to muster the energy and force myself to talk.

I can't tell if this occurs because I'm extremely introverted, overwhelmed, tired, or because of a mild form of selective mutism. I CAN tell when I'm not talking because I simply just don't want to engage (because I'm preoccupied with something or I just don't want to talk to someone), but when this happens it doesn't feel voluntary. It takes a lot more energy than usual to do so and almost feels like it hurts to. Not in a physically painful way, but in a way where it feels like I'll emotionally explode. Does this make sense at all? Any insight or shared experiences?


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Last edited by Nikadee43 on 01 May 2012, 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

WerewolfPoet
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29 Apr 2012, 9:15 pm

Technically speaking, selective mutism and autism cannot be co-morbid to each other, since the social difficulties of pervasive developmental disorders and of selective mutism are qualitatively different. Source
That being said, I have been known to enter a state of near-muteness under very specific situations. When my parents are displaying a negative emotion towards me, for example, I sometimes find it emotionally and physically difficult to vibrate the muscles of my larynx and produce a sound. Also, it will not occur to me to respond to others when they are speaking to me--what they said did not register as needing a response. This most often occurs when I am ordered to do something. In my mind, I recognize that I shall perform the order once my current action has been completed (much like a Sim, I'll admit) and thus do no think that the other person would like to be acknowledged.



kt24
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30 Apr 2012, 12:26 am

WerewolfPoet wrote:
Technically speaking, selective mutism and autism cannot be co-morbid to each other, since the social difficulties of pervasive developmental disorders and of selective mutism are qualitatively different. Source


Not sure quite where you got your statement from.
According to your source...

Quote:
Although autistic people may also be selectively mute, they display other behaviors—hand flapping, repetitive behaviors, social isolation even among family members (not always answering to name, for example)—that set them apart from a child with selective mutism. People with higher-functioning autism may be selectively mute due to anxiety in social situations that they do not fully understand. If mutism is entirely due to autism spectrum disorder, it cannot be diagnosed as selective mutism as stated in the last item on the list above.


What this quote is trying to say is that people with autism can be selectively mute too, though this sometimes appears to be caused by autism and the high social anxiety. If it is only through autism, then it is not seperately diagnosed. If it is not solely because of the autism, it is acknowledged as a comorbid condition.
So, it can be comorbid, as long as the selective mutism is not just part of the autism, but over and above that. And to be honest, when selective mutism is severe, it has nothing whatsoever to do with autism even when it's a comorbid: I should know as I have AS and selective mutism, and know another person the same.


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VeggieGirl
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01 May 2012, 9:37 am

In selective mutism, the not talking is a continuous thing in certain settings. It occurs most of the time, as opposed to for a day or two. It also has to last for at least a month to be diagnosed. For example, a person might not talk for over a month at school, or at least very very little. It isn't a few days on, few days off kind of thing.



VeggieGirl
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01 May 2012, 9:38 am

In selective mutism, the not talking is a continuous thing in certain settings. It occurs most of the time, as opposed to for a day or two. It also has to last for at least a month to be diagnosed. For example, a person might not talk for over a month at school, or at least very very little. It isn't a few days on, few days off kind of thing.



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01 May 2012, 10:00 am

Sounds like one of the first explanations of aspie-like behaviour that led me down the road to diagnosis.

I didn't start to talk until I was 7 years old as in theory I knew how to talk and I knew the words to use but in practice I just couldn't make the connection - I imagine this is what it's like for those kids who stay silent for years suddenly to come out with a ten minute conversation out of no where. Once I knew how to talk that connection was established so I got better but then it's still not completely natural to me, it's something that needed to be practised or else it starts to wane. Now I'm 'regressing' I'm noticing this problem cropping up more frequently, lately when I go to the shops I can't bring myself to open my mouth to talk to shop staff - it's not lack of desire but inability to motivate myself to talk as I would on a good day. It feels different to simply choosing not to talk, it's like the words are there but your throat is numb or like your brain is telling you to talk but somewhere along the way that message is being interrupted.

I'd say it's certainly an aspie/autistic feature, just I've never met anyone able to adequately describe this.


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