Bilingualism and Selective Mutism: A Webinar for Parents

Panelists answer pressing questions about what the field knows at this point about bilingual/multilingual youth with selective mutism, the impact of language and culture in families managing selective mutism, and how parents can continue to best support their children for increased verbalization and bravery.

Panel of experts:
Johanna Syrén, Parent and Advocate, Sweden
Johanna is a journalist, photographer and communicator who in 2020
started a national SM awareness project: Tala om tystnad (Talk about
silence). The aim of the project is for children with selective mutism
to receive better support and help, both in the family as well as in
school and care. Tala om tystnad produces various information and
communication materials – such as books, podcasts and websites.
Johanna Syrén has three children. Her twin boys, aged 12, has SM.

Ruth Perednik, MA, Senior Psychologist, Israel
Ruth Perednik is a senior psychologist, whose passion has been the treatment of children and teens suffering from selective mutism. She heads the Selective Mutism Treatment Center in Jerusalem and has published on SM and bilingualism. She has developed an innovative treatment approach, over three decades, and thousands of cases of treating children with SM. She has written a treatment manual which is divided into three sections: for therapists, parents, and teachers. This cognitive-behavioral treatment focuses on improved social communication, usually resulting in an excellent response to intervention within several months. The treatment is an integrative approach: the significant adults in the child’s world - the teacher, parents, and therapist - are all considered therapeutic agents for change, and whenever possible, carry out their own, complementary interventions, in this way leveraging momentum for change and healing. Perednik has developed online treatment courses – for parents and therapists, and has treated clients and trained mental health professionals the world over. She carries out brief intensive treatments around the world, and lectures in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. This trajectory started over three decades ago - when her trilingual son suffered from the then-unknown condition of selective mutism.

Randi Loeb, MS CCC Speech and Language Pathologist, outside Boston, MA
Randi Loeb is a founding partner and co-director of Children’s Speech and Language Services, LLC in Lexington, MA. She has over 25 years of experience as a licensed/certified Speech-Language Pathologist. Randi specializes in Social Communication and focuses her Selective Mutism (SM) practice on children ages 3 – 9. Randi provides assessments, direct treatment, and parent/caregiver/teacher consultations, as well as advocacy for children at school meetings. Randi has also been an adjunct instructor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program at Emerson College. Randi’s extensive experience treating social communication provides the foundation for her approach with children coping with SM. Working closely with the child’s parents, teachers, and therapist(s) is central to her therapy. She focuses on building a trusting relationship with the child, guiding parents and school in creating communication environments that support social interactions, and systematically broadening the range of contexts and the variety of people with whom the child speaks.

Moderator:
Rachel Busman, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist specializing in the evaluation and treatment of anxiety and mood disorders in children and adolescents. As Senior Director for the Anxiety Disorders Center and Director of the Selective Mutism Service at the Child Mind Institute, Dr. Busman leads a team of clinicians providing evaluation and innovative treatment to children with selective mutism. She oversees the program Brave Buddies, SM which is an intensive program for children with Selective Mutism. She has extensive experience providing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to children, teenagers, and young adults struggling with psychiatric disorders, school difficulties, and behavioral problems. Dr. Busman also has specific interest and expertise in the evaluation and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety, social phobia and specific phobias. Prior to joining the Child Mind Institute, Dr. Busman worked for 8 years in both the inpatient psychiatric and outpatient community mental health settings. She was a professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College, and continues to be an active supervisor to trainees. She is Past President of SMA and is truly dedicated to disseminating accurate and up to date information about the assessment and treatment of SM, and reducing stigma.

This webinar is brought to you by the Selective Mutism Association and was made possible by a generous grant from the Gordon and Marilyn Macklin Foundation, Inc.