What a find!! Helping Your Child with Selective Mutism is a well researched and organized resource that is a must read for educators and parents alike.

Providing a broad overview of selective mutism and detailing a plan for parents which coordinates with the professional treatment being received, this book explains the steps that parents/teachers can take to encourage the child to speak comfortably in school and in his/her peer group. The strategies employ a gradual, stepladder approach and the techniques gently encourage children to speak more while, at the same time, helping them feel safe and supported.

Angela E. McHolm is assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and director of the Selective Mutism Service at McMaster Children's Hospital, a service offering outpatient psychiatric consultation to families and professionals working with selectively mute children. The Introduction to the book is provided by internationally known Australian anxiety disorders expert, Ronald M. Rapee, Ph.D.

Explaining what anxiety is and what it is not, Keys to Parenting Your Anxious Child is an extremely helpful book for parents trying to cope with, and effectively help, a child with an anxiety disorder. The range of anxiety disorders which children, especially those with several generations of family members exhibiting symptoms, is described – from milder difficulty in adjusting to changes and new situations through anxiety about going to school, sleeping alone, difficulties in making friends, fear of speaking in social situations to severe phobias, panic attacks and the avoidance behaviours associated with them.

Dr. Manassis addresses the effect of the child’s problem on the rest of the family, the impact of various parenting styles on the situation and the medications which may be necessary in overcoming the anxiety. She offers useful advice on communicating both the problem and needs of the child to other people, e.g. school personnel, and provides a comprehensive system for charting the child’s behaviour to track progress. The book also shows parents how to recognize anxiety, allowing a head-start in dealing with the resulting problems before difficulties accelerate, and when professional help is required.

The author is a child psychiatrist at the renowned Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, where she directs the anxiety disorders program. Her straight forward manner, in explaining how to deal with a child’s anxieties, has helped and reassured many parents.