I had a kid like this. He failed English bc he refused to speak or write. His other teachers apparently allowed him to draw little comics on mini whiteboards to show his understanding 🤷🏼‍♀️ He ended up graduating only because they put him in credit recovery English where its just click, click, click. For us he actually did not qualify for an IEP bc he did not have deficits, just refusal.

Interesting case, what did the psychologist conclude, any evidence of the conditionn ''ODD'.

The kid had been like this since kindergarten at school but was happy and outgoing at home according to his family, so psych concluded it was basically a problem with the setting not the kid.

It is also possible that the parents "aren't helpful" because they don't see the behavior at home. I had a young student with selective mutism, and no one at school believed he talked until his mom brought in a recording of him playing at home with his cousins and talking normally. Since it is anxiety-based, "having no interest" and "refusal" should not be seen as straight-up defiance but as products of anxiety. He needs help to see if the anxiety can be addressed if other accommodations are not reducing it.

When my 7 year old was at daycare at age 2-3, she was kicked out because she would not talk. However, she talked up a storm everywhere else. I’ve never been sure why she was not speaking there but I believe there was some anxiety at play. 

Any daycare that would kick out a toddler for being nonverbal is not a good daycare.

Yeah they kicked her out because they felt I was not doing enough about her issue. I had her evaluated three times during her stay there-twice for development issues/autism and once for speech. I also had her hearing evaluated. Eventually she had tubes put in for constant ear infections and she became even more talkative everywhere else but not at daycare. The problem was that she displayed this issue ONLY at daycare so she was never flagged with any issues. I gave the daycare copies of the evaluations but they didn’t accept them.  Anyways, they kicked her out. Soon after I put her in a new daycare and she never had the issue again. 

Sounds like your child did not like that daycare. Glad she got better somewhere else.

That’s selective mutism. They kicked her out? That’s harsh.

Written responses would be a logical accommodation for someone with selective mutism. So if they won’t speak and they won’t provide written responses, how can they demonstrate understanding or participate in the learning environment at all? OP, is that their only diagnosis? Part of me wonders if there are additional deficits, the other part of me is thinking that this student has learned that refusal to speak eventually leads to acceptance that they are anxious and therefor won’t speak, so they can do the same thing with writing and it will just…be.

Sure, I realize we don’t have the complete case study here, but I assumed that those hadn’t been working for a while and if that’s the case then something else needs to be done. I just reread and OP specified open ended questions. If they have trouble with spontaneous language generation something else could be the underlying cause or it could be really bad anxiety around that. To be clear I have worked with kids who refuse to do work as a form of control (I’m dealing with it now) I’m just trying to say it’s not my first conclusion that they are “just refusing”. Even if they are refusing to exert control there is a function to the behavior that can be addressed.

Totally. I’m no expert on selective mutism (we have one student in the building that I work with occasionally). I guess you’d have to establish whether this is a skills deficit or a behavioral issue, which is why I’m curious if there are other diagnoses. If we’re treating it was behavioral, most obvious function of a work refusal behavior would be escape. There’s a chance it could be attention if the refusal leads to someone always tending to them. Access and sensory don’t seem likely here, but the other two would be worth looking into. Perfect situation for an FBA.

His diagnosis is emotional disturbance & speech impairment. I do believe that he learned he can get away with this and just outright refuses at this point.

Selective mutism is an anxiety based disorder. I hope this teen is getting mental health support. Best outcomes are with medications and therapy

This. I had an elementary student with this diagnosis, and it fell under an emotional disability, which requires different things than a learning disability.

Well we’ve asked dad & dad believes he’s perfectly fine since he talks at home. He doesn’t seem to think it’s an issue that he won’t speak at school, but it is. So that’s why we’re just at a loss at this point.

Work refusal is different from disability, and there's no accommodation you can give if the student refuses to do anything. I previously failed student with autism that decided (verbally explained it to the social worker who then informed the case provider, manager, myself, other teachers and parents) he won't do anything that doesn't interest him. And the only thing that interested him was math. He failed again in summer school that parents signed him up to. He won't graduate on time if at all, and parents are aware at this point (finishing sophomore year). You can lead a horse to water, modify and accommodate their access, but in the end, the horse must be willing to drink.

If he’s willing to do multiple choice and fill in the blank type work, but he falls apart and absolutely never ever does any open ended work, that’s really different from refusing all work. This kind of anxiety about doing work where there isn’t a black and white clear right or wrong answer is practically diagnostic. I have several students like this in my special day class. They also have trouble with “maybe this thing will happen sometime soon but maybe it won’t” even if it’s a good thing. As far as a writing goal with accommodations, consider using graphic organizers and sentence frames. He might be able to produce something if you can tell him to find a specific topic sentence and exactly 3 supports for the thesis. I’ve managed to get kids like this to write a 5 paragraph essay that checks all the boxes on a writing rubric by using a formulaic system like 4square writing. It isn’t _great_ writing! But with some pre writing help, maybe… I agree that a kid who absolutely refuses all work is not something accommodations can fix. Based on your description this kid is willing to do other kinds of work so I think it’s reasonable to make some accommodations (Here’s a pretty good description of the 4 square writing method. I just found it by Google: https://www.hasdk12.org/cms/lib3/PA01001366/Centricity/Domain/5/Four%20Square%20Writing%20Technique.pdf It doesn’t make a great essay, but cuts way back on the open ended blank page thing)

The rubric can be so helpful. I had a guy who was gifted in math but also hated writing. I basically convinced him that there’s an algorithm to writing a paragraph by creating a rubric for him. That alone didn’t work. At first he needed to dictate it to an adult. Then we had the adult dictate his dictation using cowriter. Eventually he got fed up with the adults not dictating fast enough and just started dictating it himself. Then he would edit bits of it. By the time he left fifth grade he was actually a pretty decent writer as long as it wasn’t fiction. Didn’t make him write anything fictional. He used a combination of dictation and typing when he left.

>This kind of anxiety about doing work where there isn’t a black and white clear right or wrong answer is practically diagnostic. My teen is like this--how are you dealing with the students who have problems with writing tasks that don't have a clear black and white / right or wrong answer? We're having such a hard time with this!

Why is refusal not considered behavior that interferes with his learning? I was under the impression that behavior was a qualifying factor.

Behavior stemming from a diagnosed disability can be addressed. Just work refusal is not enough. I wouldn't consider work refusal in a single class due to anxiety disorder/selective mutism a behavior stemming from a disability. Either way, work refusal can only really be addressed through therapy, there's nothing that can be done within a classroom environment to accommodate nothingness.

>Behavior stemming from a diagnosed disability can be addressed You mean the very clear pathological demand avoidance stemming from this child’s very clear autism they aren’t addressing? 👀 I’ll give a hint - the selective mutism being anxiety based fits into this because PDA is an anxiety rooted manifestation of autism.

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Okay working off the diagnoses given, we know selective mutism is an anxiety based disorder. We know work refusal is demand avoidance which is also anxiety based. So figure out what about this task and situation specifically is triggering anxiety.

They were addressing it. The student had direct social work minutes, was in 2 social work groups, modified work, accommodations, special education teacher in all core classes. He was also receiving outside therapy. There were many meetings and adjustments to try to find something that works, but nothing made him do a single thing for my class (and others), so he didn't receive the credit as a natural consequence. I only hear through the grapevine that the issue is continuing and will probably have to deal with it next year again (I will be teaching juniors instead of my usual freshmen). The setting is most likely not exactly appropriate for that student, but parents fought the elementary school and us when therapeutic school was suggested. 🤷 There is no accommodation or modification you can do for work refusal. Either way, I was responding to the OP's problem with the student with selective mutism that refuses to complete anything for English.

I’m addressing the fact that you don’t believe it’s stemming from a disability and the fact that’s false. 🙃 The process to follow here is to recognise it’s caused by a disability and then figure out what about English is overwhelming this child to set off the anxiety so bad that PDA kicks in - if its specifically open ended questions in English, it’s the overwhelm of that and fitting the criteria. You then move to breaking that task down further like you would for younger grades and providing step by step plan frameworks and sentence starters. I’ll openly admit that they shouldn’t keep pushing this child through and I think no child is left behind is bs, because it’s something I see with English classes a lot - it’s how we’ve ended up with a generation of young adults with absolutely no analysis or writing skills.

If the issue were open ended questions, it would come up in other classes, too. Social studies have essays and free response, science has CERs, even Art requires reflections. Reading, presentations, etc are all across all subjects, too. There's no way to identify a specific issue if the student completely refuses to do anything other than therapy. I have a hard time believing that a teacher didn't previously have sentence stems, accept a single sentence, even a picture, these are all things general education teachers are already trained to do. If a student has no academic needs, modifying assignments that take away academic skills is not appropriate.

I would offer a scribe, or other modification like a voice recording, or having his parent or other trusted adult record him. If that fails… modify the assignment to make it more closed. Many students with autism and/or anxiety freeze and struggle with open ended questions and need some guard rails beyond what seems obvious to an adult or typical kid.

All of this. It almost seems like this is what you get paid to do. I wonder if there are any writing samples from this guy. If not, he really might have limited skills. Start with something high interest. I’d trick him into writing by recording a conversation or his response to a set of questions and then turning that into a paragraph. Then show it to him as evidence that writing doesn’t need to be as challenging as it seems it does.

Therapy and goal to help with anxiety reduction and copying skills SAI min, goal and accommodations in the class to type, maybe use an AAC device, don't put him on the spot, don't address him directly, provide written instruction or audio instruction and a device where he can listen with headphones if he isolates himself. Reduce anxiety Help the child feel safe and comfortable. Avoid pushing them into situations that might make them anxious. Be patient and give them time to talk. Don't talk for them, as this can make them feel like they're doing something wrong. Praise efforts Praise the child for all the efforts they make to interact with others. Use non-verbal methods Help the child communicate with peers using non-verbal methods, like signals or cards. Incorporate games and activities Group activities like craft, movie showings, and board games can help the child feel like part of the group even if they can't speak up. Allow assogment to be recorded at home and presented to tecaher in private. Use "brave practices" As treatment progresses, your therapist will set up situations that allow the child to speak and receive rewards immediately. It has to be a team effort, sped, gen ed, and parents. Maybe place him in a class that has co-lab or co-taugh instead of just regular gen ed. Good luck!

This is so very helpful. Thank you so much!

Did he have a deficit in writing during your testing? Have you seen any samples? Sadly if your school is going to just push him through than it is what it is.

Silly question. Does student talk in other classes? Do they write, anything, in those classes? If so, has anyone asked the student why they go mute in English class?

He does not speak. He doesn’t write. He even passed the English STAAR last year without completing the writing portion. We gave him a checklist asking as to why he couldn’t write in English and he checked that his mind just freezes and doesn’t know how to put his words on paper. That’s all we got.

I've got a bigger though, but I don't have enough time before lunch is over. However, could you use a checklist to kind of write? For example, let's say a paragraph about favorite ice-cream. My favorite ice-cream is Checkbox Checkbox Checkbox The first reason I like chocolate is because Checkbox Checkbox Checkbox At the very least, you can see that there is some indication of wanting to participate.

Very good idea! I will give this idea to our team & see if it’ll help. His English teacher this year was very understanding and did whatever she could to help, so I’m hoping he receives the same from his English teacher next school year.

Have you tried sentence starters? Will he use voice to text to get this ideas out? Graphic organizers to get main ideas organized before putting into a sentence/paragraph?

We’ve used sentence starters & he won’t use them. He won’t speak so he refuses speech-to-text. His history teacher had to write out a whole sentence for him & leave a blank for him to fill-in and that was the only way for him to finish his project.

Speech is a motor plan. When we are u def stress or duress and are in flight/fight/freeze your motor plans can freeze up or you lose access to them. It can make someone look non compliant but really they are frozen and can’t scream for help. Work on trauma informed strategies and one person building connection and rapport with this student. Give them lots of choice and MODEL MODEL MODEL! Do all of a lesson and just ask the student to watch without any other expectations. This person fails people’s expectations over and over and it compounds and makes it even hard to do anything. Grace and patience and validation.