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A review by apple287
A Different Dog by Paul Jennings
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
3.5
I have a son who is 4.5 years old and was diagnosed with Selective Mutism at age 3.
In an attempt to search for any books (non-fiction, fiction and reference) I typed in 'selective mutism' into my local library's database. A few options came up, no reference/text books, but mainly adult novels with traumatic mutism themes (traumatic mutism generally happens when a person experiences a significant event that is very distressing for them, such as a car accident, sudden death of a loved one, witnessing an event). My son has a different type of Selective Mutism; it is classified as an anxiety disorder whereby the body/mind 'selects' what environments, situations and circumstances he is mute. An outsider who doesn't know about this disorder in a person may decode their behaviour as shy, quiet, defiant, anti-social as some people with SM don't like to give eye contact, may turn away from the person as a 'safety' and protective mechanism.
So, I was joyful when I found a Paul Jennings book that was tagged as having 'selective mutism themes'. I read it first by myself and have decided that I'm not ready to read it to my 4 year old, mainly due to the explicit reference to the death of the dog and the car accident. At this point in his development, these are heavy topics that would probably bring on some nightmares and night terrors for him.
What I did really like about this book though, and will be beneficial (I hope) for my son in the future, is how the boy describes what he feels and experiences in the situations where he asked a question or talked to by others. It seems that he communicates that he wants to talk and verbalise, but his words are 'stuck'.
"You can't be what you can't see" and so my hope is that in the future, when I feel my son might be ready to deal with the other themes of the book, he can identify with the main character, the character's descriptions of his 'stuck' words / thoughts / feelings and frustrations of his body and mind not allowing him to communicate in a way that he wants to. I want my son to be ok with who he is, as I just know that certain aspects of his life are going to be challenging in the future (i.e. social situations) as he (and his parents) help him to navigate life with strategies to support him and encourage him to share his brilliance in a way that he feels great and contributes to his world.
In an attempt to search for any books (non-fiction, fiction and reference) I typed in 'selective mutism' into my local library's database. A few options came up, no reference/text books, but mainly adult novels with traumatic mutism themes (traumatic mutism generally happens when a person experiences a significant event that is very distressing for them, such as a car accident, sudden death of a loved one, witnessing an event). My son has a different type of Selective Mutism; it is classified as an anxiety disorder whereby the body/mind 'selects' what environments, situations and circumstances he is mute. An outsider who doesn't know about this disorder in a person may decode their behaviour as shy, quiet, defiant, anti-social as some people with SM don't like to give eye contact, may turn away from the person as a 'safety' and protective mechanism.
So, I was joyful when I found a Paul Jennings book that was tagged as having 'selective mutism themes'. I read it first by myself and have decided that I'm not ready to read it to my 4 year old, mainly due to the explicit reference to the death of the dog and the car accident. At this point in his development, these are heavy topics that would probably bring on some nightmares and night terrors for him.
What I did really like about this book though, and will be beneficial (I hope) for my son in the future, is how the boy describes what he feels and experiences in the situations where he asked a question or talked to by others. It seems that he communicates that he wants to talk and verbalise, but his words are 'stuck'.
"You can't be what you can't see" and so my hope is that in the future, when I feel my son might be ready to deal with the other themes of the book, he can identify with the main character, the character's descriptions of his 'stuck' words / thoughts / feelings and frustrations of his body and mind not allowing him to communicate in a way that he wants to. I want my son to be ok with who he is, as I just know that certain aspects of his life are going to be challenging in the future (i.e. social situations) as he (and his parents) help him to navigate life with strategies to support him and encourage him to share his brilliance in a way that he feels great and contributes to his world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Car accident