Rapid reinstatement of speech using stimulus fading with a selectively mute child

Abstract

A 6-year-old white girl who had not spoken during two years of school and was not conversing with friends at home was treated by a stimulus fading procedure with graded response criteria. Rapid progress was made and the subject was conversing normally at school with her teacher and fellow pupils after four weeks of therapy. Normal communication occured with friends at home, and she was observed at both home and school to be initiating conversation spontaneously. A six-month follow-up showed continued verbal participation in school and with friends at home.