It's 2025, are you keeping up with the latest tech your kids are using? We are, and so are many children's hospitals now using VR to treat phobias.

It's not surprising that forward-thinking selective mutism therapists are asking for training on how to use **Vocal Reality** as a tool to treat SM.

Want to learn more for yourself or your child? Contact us to join in on this free workshop!

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Selective Mutism Foundation (SMF) Conference aims to unite all those impacted by selective mutism from throughout the world to share their journeys and explore best practices for addressing selective mutism. It will be held in person in the beautiful region of Niagara, Ontario, Canada. This one and a half day conference aims to unite the SM communities near and far, by sharing evidence based and cutting edge research! This means, a section on the latest technology for SM will be showcased!

We are very honoured and thrilled to have the most respected Canadian selective mutism researcher Dr. Manassis to delivery this year's Keynote!

Dr. Katharina Manassis is the author of eleven published books for parents, professionals, and other thoughtful readers. All are related to mental health. She has written three book chapters specifically on Selective Mutism.

Dr. Manassis graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, in 1986 and became a certified Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist. Career highlights included developing and directing a clinical-research program in Childhood Anxiety Disorders at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, for over 20 years. There, she studied the causes and treatment of Anxiety Disorders including Selective Mutism, with over 90 peer-reviewed papers. Eleven of these papers focused on Selective Mutism. She collaborated with researchers in Selective Mutism across North America, and in Norway and Singapore. She also supervised numerous graduate students at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, as well as a post-doctoral fellowship in Selective Mutism. She later managed a diverse private practice in her home community of Pickering, Ontario.

Since retiring from practice, Dr. Manassis is now a Professor Emerita in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. She is the proud mother of two young adult children, continues to write, teach, and collaborate, and volunteers with her church and with Parks Canada.

Calling All Researchers

While selective mutism is an anxiety disorder, it is also rooted in many disciplines, including Psychology, Medical Science, Applied Disability Studies, Child and Youth Studies, Education, Applied Linguistics, Computer Science (for therapeutic software apps and assistive technology), and more. It is also our intention that this conference will unite researchers from different disciplines in a single setting to promote, and establish, a collaborative research culture focusing on SM.

If you have conducted studies that address SM treatment interventions, we would like to consider this conference as a platform for your knowledge mobilization and translation. Please submit a proposal (See below) for review.

Calling All Software Developers

If you have designed and developed software applications specifically for selective mutism, we would like to hear from you. The SMC aims to explore innovative products engaging individuals with SM. Please submit a proposal describing your product for showcase considerations.

Note that awards will be given out to 3 top-ranked digital tools for SM. These digital tools will be rated by a panel of judges composed of individuals with SM, parents, educators, health care professionals who provide care and intervention for SM, and computer science experts.

Calling All Individuals with Selective Mutism

To all individuals who have experienced SM (children and adults alike): this conference is created for you, and devoted to others like yourself. We encourage you to get involved, as your contributions are key to the knowledge that is vital for health care professionals and researchers development of effective interventions strategies!

Join us either in-person or via virtual format (video, audio, or text), and share your experiences and perspectives on everything pertaining to SM. Please submit a proposal to let us know if you are interested in joining the panel discussion on September 27th, 2025.

Parents with children under the age of 12 are welcome to drop off their children to our SM care centre. We will have student attendees who are trained for child oversight throughout the conference*. The cost is CAD$50 per child per day. Due to limited availability, this service will be available on a first come first serve basis, so if you are interested in this option, please reserve your child’s spot as soon as the registration opens in June!

*Training provided by Dr. Poling Bork

Calling All Families and Community Members

Everyone impacted by SM, including family members, school personnel, professionals interested in treating SM, childcare and health care providers, and mental health agencies: Please join us on September 27th and 28th, 2025 to share and connect with others impacted by SM.

Submit a proposal (instructions)

Please submit the following by May 15th as one file (MS Words preferred) to selectivemutismf@gmail.com

1. a cover page that includes your name and a short bio (less than 100 words)
2. Your complete contact info (email and phone #), a headshot
3. A separate page with an abstract with a title and fewer than 500 words, plus a minimum of 3 references (please do NOT include your name for the blind review!)

All proposal will be reviewed and notification of acceptance will be sent out by May 31st, 2025

As you know, it can be very hard to find someone knowledgeable about selective mutism, even among the most qualified clinical psychologists. That’s why our nonprofit has a list of parent coaches who have either overcome SM personally or helped their own child(ren) overcome this condition when others have failed. These lived experiences are something no therapist can simply learn (imagine the worries and struggles of raising an SM child 24/7!). So why not contact them and give them a try?

Join us during this FREE Q & A event, and ask any questions. It's happening soon! Please follow us on social media or check back soon for this unique opportunity!

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Recruiting children aged 4 to 8 years with selective mutism and their parent/guardian for a fun online research study! The goal of this research is to better understand social development in children with selective mutism. Families will be compensated with a $25.00 Amazon gift card for participation and children will receive a Junior Scientist Certificate. This study has been approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board under project #18037.

If you are interested in participating, please contact the study team at sc_study@mcmaster.ca

Eligibility criteria includes:

• Diagnosis of selective mutism
• Aged 4 to 8 years
• Fluent in English
• Resides in Canada
• Access to computer, internet and private room
• Absence of autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, language disorder

School has started, and how were your child's first weeks of school? Have you noticed any school refusals or complaints about stomach aches before school? Founder and Executive Director Dr. Poling Bork has experienced all these as a parent of 3 children with SM. Hence, she will be providing a live Q&A for all care-takers. Any question is welcomed during this live event so that others can also learn how to solve similar situations. Spots are limited so registered (via contact/email) is encouraged.

Dr. Poling Bork will be leading an advanced workshop for a group of experienced and high skilled professionals who support students with selective mutism. This workshop will focus on using the VSR** technique to demonstrate how to successfully treat long-standing SM cases in 8 sessions or less.

The majority of the fee will go toward funding the nonprofit Selective Mutism Foundation.

Please contact us if you and or your organization is interested in attending any of our workshops. We have a wide variety to choose from including beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Board members of SMF will team up and provide a live Q&A session in November. All care-takers, educators, and therapists are welcome to attend and ask any questions on how to best support children with SM. Please contact us if you are interested as it will be offered based on demand!

Event Contact Link ↗

In 2023, Dr. Poling Bork partnered with Brock University to create the world’s FIRST self-serve virtual reality (VR) software as a treatment tool for individuals living with selective mutism!

“The VR software program places the individual with SM in simulated scenarios and social contexts they would encounter in everyday life, such as interacting with classmates and the teacher in a classroom, visiting a doctor’s office or ordering food from a restaurant. Characters, who are either created virtually or portrayed by actual people through videos, are pre-programmed to ask the user questions or provide responses to questions. The user practices answering the character and making conversation as a way of slowly desensitizing them to the anxiety that prevents them from being verbal in real life. Those who use the program can work through the challenges based on their comfort level by muting the sound, pausing the scene or using other features as they work through their anxieties at their own pace….” (Cathy Majtenyi, 2023)

These VR apps will be available for public soon. Stay tuned for further announcement!

Read more about this innovation ↗

We are proud to be an official sponsor and the co-coordinator for the first Selective Mutism Conference in Canada! Specifically, Selective Mutism Foundation will provide resources and training for the personnel who care for children with selective mutism (SM) during the conference! Dr. Bork is very honored to be invited as the Keynote Speaker for this special event.

Please join in to raise awareness, share your experience with SM, and learn more about innovative research and treatment methodologies for SM.

Visit the official website ↗