You are invited to participate in a survey being conducted by a graduate student at Kean University in the Communication Disorders & Deafness Department.  The purpose of this study is to investigate early childhood teachers’, elementary teachers’, and school-based speech-language pathologists’ knowledge of selective mutism in the United States.  According to Standart and Le Couteur (2003), selective mutism is a childhood disorder that is characterized by “a consistent failure to speak in social situations in which there is an expectation for speaking (e.g. at school) despite speaking in other situations” as cited in the Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR: American Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. 78).    The results of this study will be analyzed to gain a greater understanding of educational professionals’ confidence in assessing and recognizing different aspects about this disorder and will determine the need for additional supports and informational training in order to better serve students with selective mutism.

You were selected to participate because you are an early childhood teacher, an elementary teacher, or a school-based speech-language pathologist in the United States who works with children from preschool to third grade. 

Participants will complete an online survey which will take approximately 10 minutes.  To complete the survey online, please go to the URL, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=q5l9_2bFJWH_2bT_2fH_2b3ELvzPAQ_3d_3d.  Participants will be given the option to refuse to answer any of the questions which make them uncomfortable. 

Participation in this study should not cause any person associated with it to experience any risks or discomforts.  Participation in this study is completely voluntary.  Participants many change their mind about participation in this study at any time and may withdraw without penalty. 

Responses to this study are kept confidential and anonymous.  At no time will a participant be asked to submit their name or any other identifying information.  Data collected will be kept under lock and key at the Principal Investigator’s residence for 5 years and will be destroyed after that time.

Participants in this study will receive no direct benefit from completing this survey.

If you have any questions, please contact the Principal Investigator:

 

Jennifer Burke
Graduate Student
Department of Communication Disorders & Deafness
Kean University
Union, New Jersey
Email: burkeje@kean.edu