Elective mutism is often attributed to defiance or the effect of trauma.

Elective mutism is the former name for selective mutism.

Elective mutism was described as "a continuous refusal to speak in almost all social situations" despite normal ability to speak.

First Chaney, then the pending murder charge against Merritt, and finally the elective mutism.

"Total freeze-out-what you guys call elective mutism."

Though elective mutism is no longer recognized by most psychiatrists, it is a popular character element or plot point in stories and movies.

A survey of young adult literature of recent years reveals what is practically a subgenre of novels about elective mutism.

(Ages 11 and up) A suspenseful mystery involving elective mutism is also an absorbing discussion about how families arrange themselves and how adolescents search for identity.

The popularity of Speak and Cut have most likely done a great deal to spread the conception of elective mutism as refusal to speak or a response to trauma.

Subjects covered in her books include autism, Tourette syndrome, sexual abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and elective mutism (now called selective mutism), her specialty.

In 1980, a study by Torey Hayden identified what she called four "subtypes" of elective mutism, although this set of subtypes is not in current diagnostic use.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), first published in 1952, first included elective mutism in its third edition, published in 1980.

The former name elective mutism indicates a widespread misconception among psychologists that selective mute people choose to be silent in certain situations, while the truth is that they often wish to speak but cannot.

"Elective Mutism in Children: A Difficult Problem for The School and Therapist," Medical Records and Annals of the The Medical Center, Vol.

Elective mutism in the third edition revised (DSM III-R) is described similarly to the third edition except for specifying that the disorder is not related to social phobia.

Elective mutism was defined as a refusal to speak in almost all social situations (despite normal ability to do so), while selective mutism is considered to be a failure to speak in specific situations and is strongly associated with social anxiety disorder.

In 1994, Sue Newman, co-founder of the Selective Mutism Foundation, requested that the fourth edition of the DSM reflect the name change from elective mutism to selective mutism and describe the disorder as a failure to speak.