Virginia tech shooting and selective mutism

The Wall Street Journal reported August 20 that Seung Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech gunman, was diagnosed with selective mutism.

The news spread. The Washington Post, USA Today, International Herald Tribune, Associated Press, ABC News also reported the relationship between Cho and selective mutism.

When I searched "selective mutism" on Google, a picture of Cho was displayed on the search result. I was surprised. The picture was from The Washington Post web site.

Dr Elisa Shipon-Blum's comments were appeared on ABC News and roanoke.com, a web site of a Virginia-based newspaper.

But as far as I know, no Japanese media report Cho's selective mutism. So, I reported that on my Japanese blog "The Selective Mutism Journal".

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Before The Wall Street Journal's report, some people guessed that Cho suffered from selective mutism.

socialanxiety.com sent out a press release on April. The press release suggested the possibility that Cho suffered from selective mutism.

Club (2)

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Chapter 4 Selective mutism and my junior high school years

Club (2)

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I joined Igo and Shogi club.

Igo and Shogi club was a relatively small club. All members were boy students. Although club name was Igo and Shogi club, no students were interested in Igo. All students played Shogi.

* Shogi is Japanese chess.

Six new students joined the club. Some of them were brilliant students. They were enthusiastic about Shogi and were strong Shogi players. But some of them weren't interested in Shogi. They joined the club because they thought that the club must be easy.

Third-year students in the club were especially brilliant. All of them were high-achieving students and were members of the student council of my junior high school.

Mr. K was one of them. He was the student council president. I respected him. He was the strongest Shogi player of the club.

[My first play]

Club members played Shogi freely.

But I didn't (couldn't) play game at first. I stood around in club room in silence. I even avoided club members. I was a student with selective mutism.

One day, one new club member tried to play a game with me. But I hesitated. Then, a teacher advisor of the club said to him with joke, "Tomishige is a great man. If you want to play with him, you need to make a bow to him." So, he made a bow to me with joke and said, "Yoroshiku Onegai Shimasu." So, I played with him. That's my first play.

When I think back, I felt bad for him.

[Choko]

I had a bad habit. While I played the game, I took a lot of time thinking. In Japanese it's called Choko. It must have been a nuisance for my opponents. Although no opponents said to me that my Choko was a nuisance, I felt guilty.

Since I had selective mutism, I had been indecisive. But I couldn't break my bad habit.

[Speak 2,000 words a day!]

Manager of the club sometimes visited my classroom. He had a role in taking care of new students like me.

He often gave me some advises about my mutism. "Speak 2,000 words a day. If you achieve the goal, then speak 3,000 words a day."

Of course, I couldn't.

(To be continued)

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Kandou

Mutism is English.

In Japanese, mutism is called Kanmoku. Kan means "sealing" or "shutting one's mouth." Moku means "becoming silent."

In the Japanese blogosphere, many people interested in selective mutism also use a word Kandou. Kan means "sealing," as I mentioned earlier. Dou means "moving." So, Kandou means "sealing one's moving," in other word, "becoming immobile" or "freezing."

But no Japanese dictionary lists the word Kandou. Who coined the word?

An acquaintance of mine taught me that Kandou is coined by Hirofumi Kawai, author of Bamen Kanmokuji no Shinri to Shido (Psychology and guidance of children with selective mutism).

(Children with selective mutism have) behavioral inhibition tendencies. They are slow in their movements and behaviors. Especially when they get worse, their movements themselves were inhibited, and they seals their movements. So to speak, they become Kandou.

Index of SM in Japan

Club (1)

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Chapter 4 Selective mutism and my junior high school years

Club (1)

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At my junior high school we had to belong to some club.

Club can be classified into two types. One is sport club. For instance, baseball club, basket ball club, track-and-field club, etc. The other is culture club. For instance, brass band club, art club, science club, etc.

[Sport club]

At first I was going to join sport club. I thought that I might be able to change myself if I was trained in sport club. As a student with selective mutism, I wanted to change my anxious temperament.

But seeing other students who were going to join sport club, I abandoned that idea. I was too different from them. I was not active as they were. I had no confidence in going through rigorous training with them.

[Igo and Shogi club]

Fortunately, my school had Igo and Shogi club. Igo is a strategic board game. Shogi is Japanese chess. I was good at Shogi, so I decided to join the club. Of course, Igo and Shogi club was a culture club, not a sport club.

(To be continued)

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Selective mutism offline meeting in Japan

Some Japanese people with selective mutism have offline meeting.

Although selective mutism is known as a childhood disorder, some people suffer from mutism even in adult. Of course, many people overcome mutism. But even if they get to be able to speak, they sometimes have some lasting effect.

So, some people have offline meeting to share their worries. Offline meeting also seems to help them to deepen exchanges and solve their problems.

But I have never attended offline meeting. I live in a remote city, so I can't afford to pay transportation cost. If I have more money, I want to use them for studying selective mutism.

Index of SM in Japan

Study in junior high school

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Chapter 4 Selective mutism and my junior high school years

Study in junior high school

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[Educational district]

My school district was also known as educational district. Many students had education-minded parents and therefore tended to study hard.

I was not an exception. My mother expected me to go to prestigious high school. Believe it or not, my parents graduated from one of the most prestigious high school in my school district. In addition, I had to rebuild my family because I was the eldest brother of a fatherless family. So, I thought that I also had to study hard to enter prestigious high school.

It goes without saying that educational background is important to make a career in Japan. Especially in my region, graduating from prestigious high school is more important than graduating from prestigious college.

[Another important matter]

Unlike elementary schools, junior high schools conduct final term exams, mid-term exams and academic ability tests. Of course, elementary schools in Japan also conduct exams, but junior high school exams are more important and difficult than elementary school exams.

I desired to overcome my selective mutism. But I had another important matter to tackle.

(To be continued)

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Helping your child with selective mutism in Taiwan and Japan

Helping your child with selective mutism ,a Canadian book that shows practical method of overcoming selective mutism, is translated into Chinese (sold in Taiwan) and Japanese.

In Taiwan that book is translated into 幫助選擇性不說話的孩子. In Japan 場面緘黙児への支援.

August 2005
Helping your child with selective mutism is published.

February 2007
Taiwanese translation is published.

July 2007
Japanese translation is published.

I wish that German books about selective mutism were also translated into English or Japanese. In German many books about selective mutism are published. But because of the language barrier, I can't read them.

Tomishige-chan

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Chapter 4 Selective mutism and my junior high school years

Tomishige-chan

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[New homeroom teacher]

Our new homeroom teacher was a young male teacher. He was a teacher of music and was a adviser to a volleyball club in my school.

[Shy teacher]

From what I saw, he was very sociable with students. As a student with selective mutism, I felt envy of his sociability. But surprisingly, he told us that he was actually very shy with strangers.

I was surprised to hear that and felt close to him. He seemed to be introvert but behaved as if he had been an extrovert. But I thought that I was not shy as he was. My shyness was extreme. I could hardly utter words in school.

[Tomishige-chan]

Fortunately he understood me. Although I didn't speak in school, he didn't force me to utter words.

He sometimes talked about me in our class on purpose. I guess his intention was to prevent me from being isolated from students.

One day when we attended his music class, he called me "Tomishige-chan." "Chan" is a Japanese diminutive suffix. But usually "Chan" is attached to young children or girls. Why he called me "Tomishige-chan" was a mystery. But my classmates also began to call me "Tomishige-chan" with affection.

Thanks to my homeroom teacher's consideration, I was not bullied. I was accepted by classmates. I was viewed as a serious and bright boy by my classmates.

(To be continued)

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