Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
by Claire Browne
Note: In the autistic community, many members (including myself, until recently) use the term ‘Situational Mutism’ to describe what can be better defined as Processing Mutism (an involuntary loss of speech due to excessive processing demands). This can sometimes lead to confusion over genuine Situational Mutism (a phobia of speaking to specific individuals or in specific environments) and potential difficulties accessing appropriate support. Therefore, in this article I aim to explore my autistic experience of Processing Mutism and why it is so often misunderstood. Please be aware, that this blog just reflects my own autistic experience and that every experience is different so use whatever terms are right for you. You are the experts on your own experience!
PM = Processing Mutism
I am autistic and I was diagnosed with Selective Mutism (what I refer to as Situational Mutism) whilst in secondary school. However, using this term was misleading and inaccurate as it wasn’t until later on that my experiences could be more aptly defined as Processing Mutism. Since making this very important distinction, I have come across many members of the autistic community who have had similar experiences. This has been so enlightening!
During this time of experiencing Processing Mutism, I communicated mainly via writing messages on a whiteboard or mouthing words. By being mute, I was trying to manage processing demands in an environment that constantly pulled my attention in way too many directions. Being unable to speak was a means of reducing the demands that were made of me. My autistic brain automatically found ways to manage this continual overwhelm.
This is known as monotropic split and is why many autistic children experience burnout in school environments. Coined by autistic advocate Tanya Adkin she describes monotropic split as ‘the monotropic mind is having to split its attention and give more mental energy and attention than it has available to be able to withstand the environment it is in and remain safe.’ It soon became clear that Processing Mutism was a means of coping with too many processing demands, when in sixth form I started to use speech. Unsurprisingly, this was because I only had to focus on a few subjects, teachers and routes around the school campus (instead of the previous 10 subjects including a whole host of other demands) and therefore this naturally suited my autistic monotropic neurology much better!
Since joining the autistic community I have realised that lots of other autistic people have/have had experiences of Processing Mutism. This commonality is reassuring as not only does it change the way I think about my experiences of Processing Mutism – (it makes a lot more sense through an autistic lens!), but it also opens up a whole new (metaphorical) world of alternative communication.
Now, this is a message for my fellow neurokin who have also experienced PM, speech is not the gold standard, there are so many other beautiful ways to communicate! I think this is an imperative point to reiterate, as for many of us in the autistic community, speech is not our preferred form of communication and doesn’t feel natural. For example, I have and always will prefer written communication to speech. This is because communicating in writing gives me lots more processing time and I can therefore be much more articulate.
In retrospect, my Processing Mutism was a means of self-preservation. This is because by virtue of being mute less demands were made of me, for example I was not pressured to contribute to class discussions, nor was I expected to answer spontaneous questions. However, had I attempted to force myself to speak this could have led to a shutdown. This may be another topic to explore in a future blog along with other stress responses.
I hope it is now clear that Situational Mutism is very different from Processing Mutism. Therefore, why is it still the case that many well-meaning professionals attribute a loss of speech in specific situations to Selective Mutism (medical model term) when instead there are a variety of other factors to explore? This is a rhetorical question as I know the answer, observations and assumptions are made as to how (in this case) the autistic person presents as opposed to exploring internal experiences of dealing with chaotic environments, particularly through a monotropism lens. This just highlights the importance of sharing autistic lived experiences such as my own to bridge the gap in knowledge.
Hopefully as more professionals become aware of this distinction, autistics like myself who experience PM won’t have to go through unnecessary and harmful exposure therapy and instead are able to understand their profile and gain support to adapt their environment in a way that suits their autistic neurology. This could make a huge difference! Examples of changing the environment include:
- Reduced timetable
- Leaving class early or moving between lessons before everyone else to avoid such chaos
- Using ear defenders
- Having an allocated staff member/mentor to communicate with
- Reducing activities/expectations for lessons – focusing on achieving one or two tasks as opposed to 6 for example. This will then naturally reduce the amount of processing and task switching that your autistic student has to do.
- No expectations for students to use speech – offer, accept and encourage alternative means of communication
And many more…………!
My autistic experience of PM naturally emphasises the influence that the environment has on an autistic person’s wellbeing and there is no better way to summarise this than by using academic Luke Beardon’s golden equation:
autism + environment = outcome.
On reflection, I value my experience of Processing Mutism as not only has it given me more insight into my autistic brain it has also allowed me to explore the diversity and beauty of communication.
References:
Aucademy Video – Autistic Situational Mutism Ben and Libby educate (09.04.2022):
(The video above is about Situational Mutism; however the autistic speakers’ experiences are defined in a similar way to Processing Mutism).
Monotropic Split – (Tanya Adkin 2022)
Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Adults Book – Dr Luke Beardon (Dec 2021) (used for golden equation pg5)
Autistic Village 
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