When a child wants to communicate but anxiety makes speaking feel difficult, the adults around them need practical ways to reduce pressure and support progress at the child’s pace. This printable Selective Mutism Toolkit brings guidance, visual communication tools and gentle step-by-step activities together in one place for families and schools.
Created for parents, teachers and caregivers, the toolkit includes adult guidance, child-friendly pages, a Brave Talking Ladder, trackers, reward resources and 40 picture communication cards that can be used when speaking feels difficult.
The resource is informed by lived experience as a parent supporting a child with selective mutism, together with previous Occupational Therapy and school experience.
What’s Included
- Understanding Selective Mutism guide for parents and teachers
- Child-friendly guide to selective mutism
- Brave Talking Ladder graded-exposure guide and printable ladder
- Scary Chart
- Brave Speaking Tracker
- Review and Reflect pages
- Reward chart and certificate
- 40 picture communication cards for children
- Activities for practising small communication steps
- Classroom-seating guidance
- Further-support information and suggested books for children and adults
How It Can Be Used
- Help adults understand selective mutism and speech anxiety
- Introduce small, manageable communication steps without making speech compulsory
- Recognise and record progress over time
- Give children a visual way to communicate when speaking feels difficult
- Support a more consistent approach across home and school
How to Use It
Begin with the adult guidance, then choose the activities and communication cards that suit the individual child. Introduce tools gradually and follow the child’s pace. Use the tracker, reward chart and certificate to recognise effort without making speech feel compulsory.
File & Printing Details
- Digital PDF download
- Includes 40 premade picture communication cards
- Instant access — no physical item will be posted
Print the pages you need at home or through a professional printing service. Laminate frequently used communication cards for longer use. Colours may vary slightly between screens and printers.
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Usage Licence
Use it whenever and wherever it is needed within one household or one organisation/site.
A single purchase may be printed and used multiple times by one household or at one school, hospital, clinic, therapy practice or care setting. Staff at that organisation may use it with the children, patients or people they directly support.
A parent or carer may also give the file or printed pages to their child’s named teacher, therapist, healthcare professional or support team for use with that child.
Please keep the digital file within that household or organisation. It may not be uploaded to public or shared-resource websites, passed to unrelated households or organisations, resold, redistributed or used to create products for sale. Separate purchases are required for additional schools, branches, sites or unrelated organisations.
What Customers Say About KY Designx
The reviews shown below include feedback from customers across the KY Designx store and are not all reviews of this specific toolkit.