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Do any of these sound familiar?
Speaks freely at home but not at school
Your child is a "chatterbox" at home but becomes silent the moment they step into the classroom or a playground.
Words feel stuck in certain situations
Even when they want to answer, it’s as if they just cannot get the words out.
Avoids speaking when attention is on them
Direct questions or being the center of attention leads to looking away, hiding, or physical freezing.
Shuts down when asked to speak
Pressure to "just say hello" results in withdrawal or a blank expression.
Relies on non-verbal communication
They use nodding, pointing, or pulling on your arm to communicate needs rather than using their voice in public.
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Seen as shy or stubborn by others
Well-meaning adults mislabel their high-anxiety struggle as simple shyness or a behavioral choice to be difficult.
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This could be Situational/Selective Mutism (SM). Individuals with SM are not "choosing" not to speak. SM is anxiety-based disorder whereby children are unable to speak due to the distress it causes them. Appropriate supports are vital for reducing distress and supporting communication skills. Click the link below for further information and guidance if you think your child could be experiencing SM.
Welcome to SMWA
How We Support Communication Confidence
At Selective Mutism WA, we provide evidence-based, compassionate care designed to help children find their voice in a way that feels safe and achievable. Our holistic approach ensures that the child, their family, and their educational environment are all aligned to foster lasting confidence.
Child-Centred Therapy
Individualised therapy plans that respect each child's unique pace, using play-based and interest-led strategies to reduce anxiety, build trust and identify the conditions that support a child to communicate comfortably and confidently.
Family & School Collaboration
We work closely with parents and educators to create a consistent support network, providing practical tools to manage communication diffrences and/or anxiety in everyday settings. This can involve consults, training and regular reviews and for some children these environmental changes are enough to support confident communication.
Step-by-Step Exposure Support
For some children, we will utilise graded exposure techniques to gradually expand communication in small steps. Helping children to gain confidence in communicating across a variety of activities, places and with a wider range of people.
Our Services
In Person Supports (Perth Metro Area)
One-on-one sessions delivered in your home, community settings or child's school or daycare, informed by dynamic assessment and tailored to your child to create fun, build confidence and reduce anxiety around communication. Sessions are highly individualised to your child's needs, interests and skills and begin with assessment of their speech confidence skills across environments. In many cases, specific activities and games are utilised to support engagement and progression through a small steps framework when targeting SM. Sessions may also focus on speech and language skills, social skills, self-esteem, neurodiversity affirming education and concepts and regulation supports. Face-to-Face supports may be accessed for assessment and therapeutic supports. These sessions may be delivered via regular weekly/fortnightly sessions or intensive blocks.
Teletherapy (Online Consults)
Online and telephone sessions for:
Provision of individualised consultancy-based services to families, schools and health professionals. These bespoke sessions begin with assessment of speaking confidence across environments to inform prescription of advice, strategies and programmes that are delivered by those involved in the child's day-to-day life. Subsequent sessions involve coaching parents and educators through exactly how to implement evidence-based strategies to support communication confidence and regular monitoring and updating of these supports to give you the confidence and skills to make continual progress.
Teletherapy supports for direct intervention involving the child or young person via delivery of therapy techniques during online sessions e.g., sliding in. Specific activities and games are utilised to support engagement and progression through a small steps framework. For some young people this can be more effective and less demanding than face-to-face sessions. These sessions can provide an entry point for therapy services with subsequent sessions utilising the same format then used with school and friends. In some instances, these sessions are enough to enable generalisation to everyday settings with tailored supports and strategies via consult with other key adults involved with the child.
Parent Therapy Training Group - 6 week online programme (register your interest below) - Waiting to receive therapy services can be lengthy and frustrating. Selective Mutism Western Australia and Selective Mutism Support Adelaide want to help you close the gap for you and your child with six appointments within a group format whilst you await individual services. This exciting opportunity is targeted for children of primary school age who are currently on waitlists or unable to get on a waitlist. This 6-week online group will focus on a different topic each week and is designed to equip parents with the knowledge and skills to support their child. Specific training and strategies will be provided, in addition to the opportunity to gain feedback on between session practice that you have completed. This group is targeted for parents of children up to Yr 6 of primary school. It will cover strategies appropriate for all age groups and how to conduct informal sliding in sessions. The high therapist:parent ratio is designed to allow personalised support in a group format.
Clinical Supervision
Clinical Supervision - one-to-one or group supervision sessions using clinical frameworks and coaching and mentoring techniques to provide regular or ad hoc support for clinicians supporting children and young people with Selective Mutism and co-occuring communication difficulties and differences.
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Danielle is a Speech Pathologist with almost twenty years of experience supporting children and families across Australia and the UK. As the founder of SMWA, Danielle has become a trusted professional in the field of SM through provision of trainings, public speaking events and through partnering with schools and therapy organisations to support as many young people as possible across Western Australia.
Danielle was trained to Advanced Level in specialist SM supports by Maggie Johnson (author of Selective Mutism Resource Manual) whilst in the UK and holds a certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. She has since continued to devote her learning to understanding and supporting individuals with SM through a commitment to ongoing education in the areas of anxiety, neurodiversity and language supports. She is passionate about translating this learning into evidence-based, fun, and functional interventions within homes, schools, and community settings.
Having worked across a range of settings including the NHS in the UK, a large Not for Profit in Western Australia and within schools, Danielle has experience in supporting individuals with a wide range of communication difficulties and developmental differences. Therapy services provided by SMWA are individualised to the needs of each child. Taking into account their communication profile, neurotype and environments. Intervention is informed through assessment and targeted first at building relational safety across settings so that children and young people can grow their capacity for confident communication. Treatment can encompass a range of supports including: education/school training, parent coaching, speech and language supports, regulation and anxiety tools, advocacy for school-based accommodations, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), graded exposure (sliding-in) and communication practice in real-life situations.
As a mother herself, Danielle understands that therapy must be manageable and enjoyable for the whole family. She is a strong advocate for multidisciplinary care, frequently collaborating with Occupational Therapist's, Play Therapists, Paediatricians, Psychiatrists, Dieticians, and Clinical Psychologists to create holistic treatment plans tailored to the "whole child." Her work is defined by a passion for empowering parents and educators, ensuring that, through the creation of safe spaces, children become confident communicators in every aspect of their lives.
Principal Therapist
Senior Speech Pathologist BSc (Hons) MSPA CPSP
Fees & Policies
Direct Therapy & Telehealth
One-on-one sessions tailored to your child's unique needs, focusing on building communication confidence and reducing anxiety. These sessions involve direct and indirect time due to the bespoke nature of each session.
Comprehensive assessments and reporting for families and funding bodies (e.g., NDIS). Initial assessment as recommended prior to ongoing regular therapy supports. One-off consult sessions include provision of recommendations in writing in the absence of a summary report.
Assessment and One-Off Consults
Comprehensive assessments and reporting for families and funding bodies (e.g., NDIS). Initial assessment as recommended prior to ongoing regular therapy supports. One-off consult sessions include provision of recommendations in writing in the absence of a summary report.
Creating communication confidence through comfort, courage, and connection
Perth, Western Australia
Location: Perth, Western Australia
We are here to support your journey toward communication confidence. Reach out to schedule a consultation or to learn more about the services that we offer.