How SMG Started

The history of the organization, now known as the Selective Mutism Group, dates back to the mid-1990's. At that time, an interested parent of a child with selective mutism, Mr. Robert Helta, developed a website designed to provide information on selective mutism. Like other parents, Mr. Helta was frustrated by the lack of resources available on this childhood condition. During this period, the organization as it stands today was founded by the collaboration between Mr. Helta, and the now well-known physician, Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum.

Dr. Shipon-Blum was also the parent of a child with selective mutism. Driven by her personal experience, Dr. Shipon-Blum volunteered her time and medical expertise to assist Mr. Helta with developing the website content. By the year 2000, the Selective Mutism Group had already begun to attract other professionals and parents. Dr. Shipon-Blum collaborated with these professionals and parents and hoped to increase public awareness of this often misunderstood childhood disorder. She provided support to website viewers via email, reviewed scientific articles about selective mutism and related anxiety disorders to develop website content, supported a web-based study on selective mutism with Dr. Lindsey Bergman and staff at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and formed the first professional advisory committee comprised of leading professionals in the field of childhood anxiety. The Selective Mutism Group obtained 501(c) 3, nonprofit status in the year 2001 as The Childhood Anxiety Network. From 2001 to 2007, the organization was known as the Selective Mutism Group~Childhood Anxiety Network (SMG~CAN) to help promote awareness of selective mutism as an anxiety disorder.

Since the founding of SMG~CAN, several key events occurred that made SMG~CAN the primary go-to resource for selective mutism. Volunteers worked tirelessly to promote awareness of selective mutism (SM) as an anxiety disorder by providing exhibits at major medical and psychological conferences in the country. In 2002, SMG~CAN began to host an annual retreat and conference devoted solely to education about SM and support to families affected by it. SMG~CAN was recognized in the media, and Dr. Shipon-Blum soon became a leading expert on SM. She participated in interviews for major newspaper and magazine articles and took part in a television documentary, Afraid of People, along with parent, Sherry Heckman and her daughter who had selective mutism.

As SMG~CAN continued to grow, the organization joined together the few researchers, treating professionals, and educators with knowledge about selective mutism. Beginning in 2002, SMG~CAN participated in the first research study on the genetics of selective mutism in collaboration with lead researcher, Dr. Denise Chavira, and colleagues at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In this same year, the SMG~CAN website was used for recruitment of participants for a social anxiety research study by Dr. Deborah Biedel of the University of Maryland. Volunteer Adrienne Wallage led the formation of the SM International Connections groups to provide information on selective mutism in other countries, including her homeland of Israel. SMG~CAN's Board of Directors began to expand and the organization hired it's first Executive Director, Dr. Christine Stanley, a veterinarian by profession, and the parent of a child with SM who managed the organization's daily operations for three years. Expert online chats were born in 2003 for SMG~CAN members to learn from and ask questions of experts in the field. Informational handouts about SM began to be distributed nationally to professionals and educators by volunteers in many of the 50 states with the formation of the SM Connections program led by Laurie Gorski and Lori Dabney, both parents of children with selective mutism. By 2004, key sections of the SMG~CAN website were translated into Spanish in order to reach an extensive audience of Hispanic families and professionals. In 2005, SMG~CAN developed relations with another SM advocacy group in the United Kingdom, Selective Mutism Information and Research Association (SMIRA). SMG~CAN also supported several student research projects, theses, dissertations, and reduced fees to encourage student conference attendance to increase knowledge amongst our future educators and treating professionals.

Between 2005 and 2007, SMG~CAN began to restructure the organization in order to support the needs of its growing number of members, website visitors, and professionals that contacted the organization. The Board of Directors expanded to include both treating professionals and business professionals. SMG~CAN presented six annual conferences by 2007 and co-sponsored several conferences in collaboration with the Selective Mutism Anxiety and Research Center (SMART Center), the private practice of Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum founded in 2003 to serve the needs of the many individuals seeking treatment. In addition, SMG~CAN was represented at several other conferences and professional training seminars including the Anxiety Disorders Association of America conferences.

2007 has been a period of rapid growth for SMG-CAN. The organization endured a great amount of internal change and restructuring. The Board of Directors expanded to include expertise in several key areas and adopted a new committee structure led by Board members and dedicated volunteers. Both regular and professional memberships have increased and purchasing of the organization's books and products related to selective mutism has been substantial. The organization also launched its first Annual Campaign and national Bowl-A-Thon to solicit donations from generous contributors who are dedicated to help SMG~CAN succeed in its mission and continued expansion. SMG~CAN is especially grateful to have the support needed to update its website, the central entity of the organization and leading resource on SM, to better respond to the needs of those affected by SM. On average, our website receives over 1,000,000 hits per month and thousands of individuals learn about SM through the resources provided within it.

We are proud to say that by addressing our mission, more and more individuals are becoming aware of selective mutism as an anxiety disorder.

The Selective Mutism Group (SMG) has always advocated primarily for the recognition of SM as it relates to other anxiety disorders. SMG has been the primary operating entity of the Childhood Anxiety Network (CAN) since its founding. As selective mutism continues to increase in recognition amongst both professionals and the general public, the organization has decided to brand itself as SMG, with a crisp, new logo that captures the essence of our history and the vision of our future.

The meaning of the ribbon in our logo is representative of the gift our efforts bring to our children: a transition from a low point of discouragement to a high point of victory. Some have also commented that the ribbon symbolizes the transition from a frown to a smile, showing that we are instilling happiness in our children as they become more understood, and as their anxiety is overcome. The term "selective mutism" and SM can now stand alone, as we are closer to making this disorder a common household name like ADHD, autism, and other well-recognized disorders of childhood.

While still embedded in the family of the Childhood Anxiety Network, SMG is stronger and more prominent as an entity in itself that facilitates awareness and recognition of SM as an anxiety disorder all on its own.