Rare disorder stops girl, 9, talking to friends and teachers

Hannah Stewart never talks to friends – but not because she is forbidden from doing so. The nine-year-old cannot hold a conversation with anyone outside her immediate family.

Hannah, a pupil at Aitkenbar Primary School, Dumbarton, has been diagnosed with selective mutism, a rare anxiety disorder estimated to affect one child in 10,000.

Affected children have a phobia about speaking in social situations and avoid doing so by pointing, writing or drawing. But their silence leaves them cut off from the world and isolated from friends.

Yesterday, Hannah's mother, Jackie, said she feared for her daughter's future. Mrs Stewart, who is separated, said: "In some situations it can be very dangerous because she can't explain when she feels frightened or threatened in any way.Even things like telling her teacher she needs to go to the toilet can be a problem. If she needs to go, she has to let the teacher know by writing it down on a piece of paper.

"It upsets me when I see her playing with other children at school, but she doesn't speak to them and they don't really understand what is wrong. They seem to accept her silence but when they are playing she is an outsider. It really hurts me to think of her in isolation. It worries me how she is going cope with her life in years to come."

Initially, Ms Stewart, who has two other daughters, Elizabeth, 6, and Rebekah, 4, did not realise Hannah had difficulties because she chatted happily at home like any other child, but in other situations she was silent. Only when she went to nursery school was she alerted to the problem. "People began to notice there was something wrong. The minute someone spoke to her, she would withdraw. She would just turn away shyly and say nothing."

Hannah was referred to a children's clinic for psychological tests but Ms Stewart, a former childcare nurse, said they had been of little help. "Some psychologists suggested she simply had behavioural problems. Because the condition is so rare there is very little understanding."

Dr Elisa Shipon-Blum, an expert on the condition, said: "Selective mutism can lead to depression, increased stress, social isolation and peer neglect or rejection ... Many children suffer from low self-esteem, feelings of loneliness and reduced school or work productivity ... others can go on to live a relatively normal life."