Back to School

Gail Kervatt, M.Ed. is a retired educational specialist who served in the public school system for twenty-nine years. She has had articles published in various reading and speech and language journals, advocates at schools for parents and is a frequent speaker at conferences. Gail became interested and involved with SM upon encountering a child in her school who had not spoken outside the home for five years. There was not much information for teachers at that time. She researched and implemented a successful school intervention and later wrote The Silence Within: A Teacher/Parent Guide to Helping Selectively Mute and Shy Children followed by The Supplement to The Silence Within. These books and her work with SMG are her contribution to educators who appear to be desperate for knowledge and strategies when confronted with a selectively mute child.

The school setting is one of the places an SM child fears the most. Adjusting to school after the summer break can be difficult. Gail will suggest ways to help an SM child ease back into school. She will answer questions about an appropriate school intervention for an SM child including personnel, strategies, activities, materials, resources and 504 versus IEP plans, all from a teacher’s perspective.