The Selective Mutism Summer Vacation & Back-to-School Guide: Recommendations and Strategies for Building Social Communication Sk

Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum’s ’The Selective Mutism Summer Vacation and Back-To-School Guide; Recommendations and Strategies for Building Social Communication Skills’ is an excellent resource for parents, educators, therapists and others who spend time with a child with Selective Mutism.This 80-page book is beautifully designed with graphics and written in an easy-to-understand way.The guide consists of recommendations and strategies to build social communication skills during summer break as well as both preparing for and start of the new school year.The book consists of 3 parts. Part 1 focuses on understanding Selective Mutism as a social communication anxiety disorder rather than just mutism. Details about the Social Communication Bridge(TM) and SM Stages of Social Communication are discussed with focus on the Golden Rules for becoming verbal in all settings. Part 2 provides readers with strategies and insight to navigating the routines, activities, and decisions that are distinctive to summer. Summer break includes visiting relatives, socializing with peers, attending camp, attending get-togethers with friends, vacationing, or simply relaxing. With each social encounter, children with selective Mutism should develop their social comfort and communication skills. Part 3 begins with strategies and insight into planning for the upcoming school year. In addition, tips, tools and recommendations are provided to help the child with SM build the comfort with peers and teachers specific to the child’s stage of social communication.Dr. Shipon-Blum’s newest book, The Selective Mutism Summer Vacation and Back- to-School Guide will give the reader expert knowledge, valuable ideas and strategies to use to keep the SM child progressing during the school summer vacation!

More About the Author
Elisa Shipon-Blum, DO - or Dr. E, as her patients call her - is the President and Director of the Selective Mutism Anxiety and Related Disorders Treatment Center (SMart Center). She is a board-certified physician who specializes in Selective Mutism. Over the past 30 years, Dr. E has helped thousands of children, teens, and adults from around the world overcome Selective Mutism. Notably, the inspiration of her work comes from her daughter, Sophia, who suffered from and overcame Selective Mutism.

Dr. E developed the evidenced-based Social Communication Anxiety Treatment (S-CAT)(R). According to Dr. E’s work, The key to an effective treatment plan is understanding factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of SM (The Why’s of SM) as well as understanding an individual’s baseline stage of social communication on the Social Communication Bridge(c). Then, working as a team; the treatment professional, parents, and school staff, help the individual build coping skills to combat anxious feelings and to progress across the Social Communication Bridge(c).

To learn more about the SMart Center, visit SelectiveMutismCenter.org!

Elisa Shipon-Blum DO, is the President & Director of the Selective Mutism Anxiety Research and Treatment Center (SMART Center) located in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. She is the Founder of the Selective Mutism Group (SMG) and a Director of the Selective Mutism Research Institute (SMRI) a foundation established to study Dr. Shipon-Blum’s theories and treatment methodologies on Selective Mutism. Dr Shipon-Blum is Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology & Family Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr Shipon-Blum practices in Jenkintown, PA, and has developed Social Communication Anxiety Treatment (S-CAT) from her years studying and researching individuals with Selective Mutism. She consults worldwide with families, treating professionals, & educators, and has helped over four thousand children from around the world overcome Selective Mutism. Dr. Shipon-Blum lectures throughout the country on the topic of Selective Mutism, performs school evaluations and trainings for treating professionals, educators, and parents, and is considered one of the world’s leading experts in the treatment and understanding of Selective Mutism. She has been a featured expert on national television programs such as 20/20, CNN, Inside Edition, and Good Morning America, as well as other local, national, and international television and radio broadcasts. In addition, she has been featured in TIME Magazine, People Magazine and has interviewed with newspapers such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, San Diego Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Palm Beach Post. In addition to her treatment & research she has written numerous articles and books on Selective Mutism and anxiety. She has also produced DVDs on the topics of treatment and assessment of Selective Mutism & the development of school accommodations & interventions for mute children. Dr. Shipon-Blum (or Dr. E as her patients refer to her) prides herself on being ’down to earth’ and ’easy to speak to’, and resides with her family in the northeast suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Notably, she is also the mother of a child, Sophie, who suffered from and overcame Selective Mutism and is the inspiration for the work she does each day.