Superhero Costumes as a Method for Treating Children with Selective Mutism: A Case Study

This chapter describes a creative method for treating children with selective mutism. It is a case study of a 5 year, 8 month old child who has been silent since the first day of school for 2.5 years. No one, for 2.5 years, has ever heard him speak. He used to stare at his classmates as they played but did not participate. His mother described his language as normal and behavior as quiet. When the researcher first saw him he was wearing a “Superman” costume. The researcher used the child’s ambition to be superman as a platform to think creatively to treat his deficiency. He spoke in 1 hour and 30 minutes. The single session treatment successfully treated the child and he was observed afterwards for 2 months, no relapses, and he continued speaking. To maintain the success, the teacher and the student-teacher were advised to use the “descriptive language approach.” He was observed regularly