Mutism

Selective mutism can be defined as the difficulty that some boys and girls have to communicate verbally in unfamiliar environments and social situations and/or with little known people.

This definition indicates, on the one hand, that children with selective mutism have an appropriate linguistic and communicative competence for their age and, on the other, that this good competence is usually manifested in the immediate family environment, but does not manifest itself in other environments and with other lesser-known people.