With the clock ticking, Chelsea Jenkins tells PEOPLE that “early intervention matters more than most people realize,” especially with selective mutism After her daughter, Ava, was diagnosed with ...

A local filmmaker produced a documentary about selective mutism, which has a higher prevalence among girls and children from bilingual households. As a journalist, I constantly speak to people.

“That gap between who she is at home and who the world gets to see is the hardest part of all of this,” Ava’s mother, Chelsea Jenkins, tells PEOPLE Courtesy of Chelsea Jenkins In January 2026, a ...

"Note that the word 'mute' is regarded by linguists as an onomatopoeic formation referring not to silence but to a certain fundamental opacity of human being, which likes to show the truth by allowing ...

Over the years, in the juvenile court clinic, my colleagues and I have had several cases where a child referred for evaluation speaks only to select people. It is sometimes noted that the child has ...

Chelsea Jenkins and her family. When Chelsea Jenkins' 4-year-old daughter, Ava, was diagnosed with selective mutism in January 2026, the 33-year-old mother of four immediately began searching for ...