ENHANCING SOCIAL SKILLS AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN WITH SELECTIVE MUTISM THROUGH PEER SOCIALISATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS

Abstract

The prevalence of selective mutism among young children in the early years is difficult to know since these children exhibits tendencies to interact with selected peers in non-verbal situations or gesturing to make choices. However, they struggle with developing social interactions that leads to oppositional or avoidance behaviour patterns. Although early years education continues to target social interaction in natural settings it is inconsistent with evidence-based practices and not facilitated with peer socialisation at large. This study aims to explore the use of peer socialisation to enhance social skills of children with selective mutism by a) changing behavioural patterns of students with selective mutism and b) increasing the social interactions with their typical peers. The researcher used purposeful technique to select four cases of children between age four to six with selective mutism in the early childhood classrooms. Transcripts of interview data were thematically analysed and triangulated with observational data of the children’s behaviour and analysis of documents comprising images and perfomances record. Findings of this study show that the social skills of the children with selective mutism improved following a decrese in avoidance behaviours, facilitated by supportive peer interactions. These results highlight the importance of teachers in identifying behavioural patterns and implementing ecological interventions.