Breaking the Silence: Autism, Mutism, and Selective Mutism demystified
This blog post talks about the confusion that arises from misunderstanding selective mutism and regular mutism. It clearly states that selective mutism is an independent diagnosis and not a part of autism. It explains that the difference between selective mutism and regular mutism is choice, as people with selective mutism have no choice, while people with autism have a choice to speak but may not because of developmental delays, sensory overloads, difficulties in processing information, and/or social anxiety. The post also highlights that the confusion arises due to the usage of the term “selective”, which in the UK is replaced by “situational”, which means the same. The post also briefly touches upon the stigma and discrimination around the terms high functioning autism and Asperger’s syndrome, highlighting the differences between the two.
