Mutism

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I can find surprisingly next to no information on this.
All I can find is autistics who are nonverbal and unable to speak, and selective mutism, which seems almost involuntary due to severe anxiety. What about those who can speak, and choose not to?
I have been mute for the last three days due to flu - my voice literally stopped working, probably due to coughing.
I have a speech disorder, so dislike speaking, but I am capable of speaking and usually do so well enough. I am nonverbal during shutdowns, but I also physically isolate and can't comprehend anything / deal with people in those instances. With this flu, I have been otherwise fine, interacting with others and going about my business almost as usual, just coughing and congested. Just without speaking a word.
It's been illuminating just how easy this is. I can still make myself easily understood and communicate even with rudimentary signs, and I recalled that I'd done this before in childhood, before my parents and school held some intervention and bullied me back into speaking. But this, everyone accepts. It's not weird at all, I'm not expected to speak or harassed for not speaking.
The difference is startling. It's as if using and being expected to use verbal language blurs my mind, like a white noise, and without it, my mind feels much clearer. My whole perspective and perception changes.
I haven't even bothered to see if I'm able to talk again or not because I prefer it so much more this way.
I would prefer to go predominantly mute and sign, speaking only when signing isn't a choice. Many deaf people aren't expected to speak and instead use sign - could similar apply for voluntary mutes?
I know autism and speech issues can go together, as do auditory processing issues and do for me, but are there others on the spectrum capable but voluntarily mute? It doesnt seem to fit into any other categories of mutism, but I think may be connected to autism. What the?
Opinions? Info?

I think I've heard of people here who prefer not to speak even though they can. I'm not one of them.

I think if you do have speech processing issues, it makes sense that you wouldn't want to communicate verbally.

The problem is, no one will want to deal with you refusing to speak when they know that you can. And unless you learn sign language, it will be very limiting for you. Even those who usually rely on signing have trouble if they can't read lips or speak at all. Not enough people in your daily life are likely to know sign language.

When I am overwhelmed or really exhausted, I find normal speech very difficult. It takes a lot of energy from me and I just prefer to not have to do it. So I choose to take a break from speaking and go as mute as possible. There are instances where I absolutely must speak but I keep my speech extremely limited and only when I absolutely have to until I am recovered from my exhaustion or whatever I am going through.

The people who know me know that I speak very well but they also understand that speech is not something that I can't always do since I have explained to them how it works for me. So whenever I do need a break from speech I just text them and let them know and they respect that. I also carry a card in my wallet that I made explaining this issue. That way I can show it to people if i am out. Usually, I find that once people understand what is going on, they are very understanding and respectful and patient. And I try communicate with them by texting or emailing them. But I do want to learn ASL as well since several of my friends know it.

I'm capable of speaking but almost never do. I had/have a speech disorder and suspect a mild language disorder (can't think of the words for what I'm thinking) so talking can be hard work. In addition to it being difficult I have a 'classic' autistic passive/aloof social style so most of the time I'm not motivated to speak. A lot of people have assumed I was mute. I do speak when I need to though.

I don't think of myself as voluntarily mute, just socially disengaged. I don't think I'd get any benefit from using sign language - I'd still be socially disengaged, sign language would just be another way I wouldn't communicate.

People are not likely to be accommodating if you're able to speak but choose not to. It's easier for you to deal with speaking than it is for everyone else to learn sign language.

I'm a research student. I work normal hours in an office/lab environment and regularly go days without talking to anyone. It is possible to function while effectively mute, but I would recommend against having muteness as a goal. Muteness (by interfering with communication) is a problem for me career-wise because I'm not developing professional relationships or sharing knowledge with others - I expect that would be an issue in most professional settings. And it's an issue socially as well - I don't have any friends and I would like to have one or two, but I'm not going to make any if I'm not talking to anyone.

I went to school in Virginia with a boy who was mute by choice. He could speak and was able to vocalize but seriously did not want to. There was some trauma of some kind.

I hope for you to find some solace in this. The fear I would have is that with my facial expressions making everybody always tell me to 'smile' or asked why I am angry, it would remove one way for them to know I was not angry.

Hello,

I'm a non verbal autistic adult who used to speak. I had an operation in August last year and have not been able to speak much since outside of a few very very specific scenarios.

I don't have a formal diagnoses of selective mutism, but it would be the best fit I think. I struggle to get words to come out. It's like my speech is a flywheel, getting it to spin up so words requires just the right situations and support. I have written about that here: http://spacedoutandsmiling.com/blog/201 ... -my-speech

I am replying because I wanted to mentioned about times when I can speak but do not. Sometimes I'm not entirely sure if I can or cannot speak. Other times I know I can "make words" but it's everything else (social rules etc) which keeps me quiet. Other times still I just go quiet and don't speak much then find when I want to say something I can't (as if the flywheel has spun down).

The hardest part is not being non verbal, I've had effectively no speech for 8 months now, I manage fine. The hardest part is the transition too and from as people expect speech I cannot perform, or don't expect speech and the react when I do speak.

With my friends when I am very relaxed I may manage a few words, I tend to blurt them by accident. They fall out themselves.

Other times I need to focus on it, I can force some speech using Echolia. I have some phrases which are like sounds files in my head. I can say them, and but basically saying them in my head and only verbalising the word I want I can string together a sentence. It's exhausting but it works. It makes me sound like a robot.

Part of the anxiety comes knowing that speech can quickly destroy friendships. If I am having a meltdown I can get very verbal and upset people. I say lots of things which are true, but from the upset and not positive perspective. When I have calmed down and feel less overwhelmed I then cheer up a bit and see the positives.

Finally, other times, when stuff is stable and I am relaxed my words use to flow.

One place where I can speak very well is public speaking to strangers. It has all the things I need. No social rules (I just stand and Monologue) structures in my slides and general I am talking about something concrete like autism or web accessibility. I also don't care what the audience thinks, it won't effect my life if they misunderstand me. However talking to friends, a misunderstanding could be catastrophic.

Over the last 8 months my best speech was when on a stage.

I hope that helps,I'm still figuring this stuff out myself.

I've often found speaking to be more effort than it's worth, and say a lot of things because I'm socially obligated to, not because I want to. Like Skibum, I lose my speech when overwhelmed, panicked, or melting down, and when I try to talk, all that comes out is gibberish, or the same word or syllable repeated over and over. I often wish I weren't pressured so much to talk, that the people around me would be okay with my communication, regardless of whether it was speaking, writing, or text-to-speech. I've often wished I could just go mute for a while, it feels like it would take tremendous stress out of life.

I am still new to understanding just what I think is outgoing info and what is really outgoing info during the outbursts or meltdowns. So, I am not sure how much is gibberish or just highly truncated (words dropped, mind skipping a bit on phrases), but I know it's loud and angry sounding.

But, I do know that if just overwhelmed, I just withdraw.

Historically, there have certainly been religious orders that took vows of silence. But those people of course generally lived in monasteries or convents where they could live and work within an established system.

(I even know a joke about this.)

I often become mute, and barely say anything at all anymore unless someone talks to me directly.

I get this way too. When I feel tired or stressed it requires more energy for me to talk so I don't talk very much unless I have to and some days I don't say much more than a few words throughout the day. I also sometimes feel like a lot of people misinterpret me because when I would talk to them what I would say would come out wrong. I don't do it to be rude or anything though.

I was mute for my first three years and communicated with a sign language of my own devising. Now, I find that I can scarcely force words out when I really need something. But otherwise, it takes a suggestion to make me mute. Not much of one. A psychologist first accidentally put me in that state when she asked me what "that child" (speaking of my little self) would say. I couldn't talk to her for another day, though my thought processes were normal. I've since had the state induced several times and find it very frustrating and uncomfortable, since I can think and want to speak and know that I'm physically able, but just can't make the words come out.

Sometimes it's just too much to even say short, simple things. In some instances, if I'm put under pressure and stressed, I'll be literally unable to speak for a short while and my mind will feel like it's malfunctioning for the duration. I might be able to think simple words, but cannot speak them. I wonder sometimes if these instances are almost like very small windows into what it's like to be nonverbal. Under normal circumstances, I can speak just fine, but generally choose not to. Depends on the environment though.

In contrast, I'm much more outspoken online, where I can write my thoughts, rather than speak them. I've heard from one of my professors that most people prefer speaking to writing. Not me.

It's the stress of things out of my control. Of people purposely making my life even worse then it already is.

Plus I really don't like the term selective mutism. It's basically saying I'm choosing to be mute but I'm not.