A further demonstration of the efficacy of stimulus fading treatment of elective mutism

A third grader who had never spoken to her teachers in school, but who was verbally fluent at home, was successfully treated via stimulus fading and positive reinforcement procedures. Both 15-month and 5-year follow-ups indicated that the girl had become one of the most talkative and fluent students in her classroom. The major therapeutic technique was a stimulus fading procedure administered by the girl's classroom teacher and applied simultaneously across several stimulus and response dimensions.