When Quiet Children Struggle to Talk
Understanding Selective Mutism, Anxiety and Communication in Early Years Settings
A practical, specialist training for nursery and Early Years professionals who want to understand why a child may talk confidently at home but become quiet or unable to speak in their setting — and know what to do next.
Learn how to reduce communication pressure, recognise the many ways young children communicate before speech, and create an environment that supports safety, connection and confident communication.
1.5 hours recorded training | 4 months’ access | Practical resources | Certificate available on request
Individual access: £49
Training your whole setting?
Whole-Setting Training Package available below.
“They talk all the time at home. Why are they so quiet here?”
Does your nursery have a child who talks confidently at home but remains silent or very quiet when they arrive at nursery?
Perhaps they seem perfectly capable of speaking, but when someone asks them a question, they freeze. Maybe they communicate through gestures, pointing or facial expressions. They might speak to one particular child or familiar adult but become quiet when somebody else joins them.
It can be difficult to know what to do next.
As Early Years professionals, we naturally want to encourage a child to join in. We might ask them a question, invite them to say hello, encourage them to “use their words” or celebrate enthusiastically when we finally hear their voice.
All of this comes from wanting to help.
But when anxiety is sitting underneath the difficulty, even well-intentioned encouragement can sometimes create more pressure.
That is why I always say:
“Whenever I’m stuck, I look underneath first.”
This training will help you do exactly that.
Understanding is important. Knowing what to do next matters too.
When a young child isn’t talking in nursery, it can be tempting to focus immediately on speech.
How can we encourage them to talk?
Should we ask more questions?
Should we encourage them to answer?
Should their parent stay until they speak?
But before we decide what to do, we need to understand what may be happening underneath.
This training will help you look at selective mutism and anxiety-based communication through the lens of the young child’s developing brain and nervous system, their relationships, environment and current sense of safety.
Then we turn that understanding into practical action.
Understand → Observe → Reduce Pressure → Create Safety → Connect → Identify the Next Step
The aim isn’t for you to finish with lots more theory.
It’s for you to look at the child differently and feel clearer about what you can do when you return to your setting.
What’s included?
• 1.5 hours of specialist recorded training with Anna Biavati, Specialist Speech & Language Therapist
• 4 months’ access from the date of enrolment
• Practical downloadable resources to support implementation
• Step-by-step strategies designed for Nursery and Early Years environments
• Certificate of completion available on request
What will you learn?
By the end of the training, you will have a clearer understanding of:
• What selective mutism is and how it can present in young children
• The differences between shyness, anxiety and selective mutism
• Why a child may talk freely at home but become unable to speak in nursery
• Why some children freeze when they feel expected to speak
• What may be happening in the brain and nervous system
• Common things adults can do with the best intentions that may unintentionally increase communication pressure
• How to reduce pressure around speaking
• How to build safety, connection and confidence through everyday interactions
• How to create a communication-friendly Early Years environment
• How to recognise and respond to communication beyond spoken words
• How to use observation to decide what the child may need next
• How nursery staff and families can work together
• What to do when a child continues to struggle with communication
Most importantly, the training will help you move away from making speech the immediate goal and towards understanding the individual child and identifying an appropriate next step.
Who is this training for?
This course is suitable for:
• Nursery practitioners
• Early Years practitioners
• Childminders
• Nursery teachers and room leaders
• Nursery managers
• Early Years SENCO/ASN staff
• Family support workers
• Other professionals working with young children
No previous specialist knowledge of selective mutism is required.
You can access the training as an individual professional or purchase a Whole-Setting Training Package.
Communication is so much bigger than talking
Young children tell us an enormous amount before they use their voice.
A child may begin to come into nursery more comfortably. They might move closer to another child, join a game, smile, laugh, point, nod, show an adult something or begin communicating through play.
These changes can be easy to miss when everyone is waiting for one thing:
“Did they speak?”
But these behaviours give us valuable information about how safe and connected the child is beginning to feel.
When we recognise communication beyond speech, we can meet the child where they are now and build from there.
Safety comes before speech.
Working together with families
One of the confusing things about selective mutism is that nursery and family may see two very different versions of the same child.
At home, parents may describe a child who talks constantly, sings, tells stories, argues with siblings and has no apparent difficulty using their voice.
At nursery, you may see a child who rarely speaks at all.
Both experiences are real.
Rather than asking which version represents the “real child”, we need to bring those observations together.
Families can tell us what the child is like when they feel safest. Nursery staff can observe what changes when the child enters a different environment.
When we share those observations, we can begin to understand what helps, what increases pressure and where an appropriate next step might be.
Meet Anna
Anna Biavati
Specialist Speech & Language Therapist
I have worked as a Speech and Language Therapist for over 20 years, including 13 years within the NHS, and have spent many years supporting children, young people and families affected by selective mutism, anxiety and communication difficulties.
My clinical work begins with a question I return to again and again: “Whenever I’m stuck, I look underneath first.”
Rather than beginning with speech, I look at what may be happening underneath the difficulty including anxiety, regulation, relationships, environment and the young person’s current level of safety.
This training brings that same way of thinking into your school, helping you move from simply understanding selective mutism to knowing how to observe, respond and decide what to do next.
Choose the option that works for you
Individual Professional Access — £49
For nursery practitioners, Early Years professionals, childminders, family support workers and other professionals who want to develop their own understanding and practical skills.
Includes:
• Complete 1.5-hour recorded training
• 4 months’ access from enrolment
• Practical supporting resources
• Certificate of completion available on request
£49
Whole-Setting Training Package — £175
Whole-Setting Training Package — £175
Get your whole team speaking the same language.
One knowledgeable practitioner can make a real difference. But when everyone around the child understands what may be happening and responds consistently, we can create a much more predictable and supportive environment.
The Whole-Setting Training Package gives staff employed within one nursery or Early Years setting access to the training for four months.
Your team can complete the training individually at a convenient time, or you can use it together as part of an INSET session, staff meeting or professional development day.
The Whole-Setting Training Package includes:
• Complete 1.5-hour recorded professional training
• 4 months’ access for staff within one setting
• Practical supporting resources
• Certificates of completion available on request
• Flexible individual or whole-team learning
£175 per setting
This is a single-setting licence. Course access and recordings may not be shared with another nursery, school, setting, organisation or external professional.
For organisations wishing to provide the training across multiple sites, please contact me to discuss a multi-setting licence.
Ready to know what to do next?
You don’t need to become a selective mutism specialist overnight.
But when you understand what may be happening underneath the silence, you can begin to reduce unnecessary pressure, notice the communication that is already happening and create the conditions in which a child can take their next manageable step.
Start with understanding. Then know what to do next.