Character Intake Form for Susan Goodman

Character Name:
Susan Goodman

Age:
10

In a paragraph, how would you describe yourself in your own words?
I’m the youngest sibling of three. I like playing with dolls and getting into my mom’s makeup when she’s not looking. I don’t like my sister Debby’s boyfriend…he’s yucky. I have a really good friend named Brenda. I’d rather read than play games, and I love having my kitty Snowball sleep with me at night. She’s the only person I talk to.

What were the family dynamics in your home growing up? What are they now?
Daddy is a lawyer, and he spends most of his time building his practice partnership with Brenda’s daddy. Mama usually plays bridge or holds teas in the parlor with these really snooty women. It’s when she does this that I play in her makeup. She never tucks me in at night. I have a governess who usually does that, but I don’t like her much. She thinks that I don’t talk on purpose.

What was the most important childhood event that still affects you today and why?
I was upstairs, dabbling in Mom’s makeup, when I heard Debby give a muffled scream from her room. I went to check it out and saw Debby’s boyfriend doing stuff to her…really bad stuff. She doesn’t know that I saw, and neither does he. I hid behind the curtain next to the door until he left. It was so awful that I haven’t said a word since.

Do you or your immediate family have a history of mental illness? If yes, explain.
Um, I’m not sure. I think Mama might be an alcoholic. At least that’s what Daddy calls her some nights. Mama calls him a workaholic. I think I have an aunt in the insane asylum, but nobody ever talks about her.

What is your biggest accomplishment? Why?
I’ve read all of Jane Austen’s books. I didn’t understand every word, of course, but I got the general idea and really loved them! My mama couldn’t believe that I had finished the entire book in segments by taking it off her nightstand. She caught me replacing it when I was done, but she wasn’t really mad. I think she was proud. Either that, or she didn’t believe me. I could tell she really wanted me to talk to her then, but I just couldn’t.

What is your biggest regret? Why?
I wish I could talk to someone about Debby’s boyfriend. She’s obviously not saying a word to anyone, and I should at least tell Mama so she could protect Debby. But Debby’s boyfriend is the son of a very wealthy woman who Mama socializes with. I heard her say that Debby was going to be the next first lady of South Carolina…because her boyfriend is probably going to be governor or something.

What is your soft spot or biggest vulnerability? Why? Do others know this about you or is it a secret?
Snowball. Debby. Brenda, even. They all seem to need me to take care of them. I don’t suppose they know how much I keep an eye on them. Snowball is getting older, Debby is so scared of disappointing Mama that she doesn’t see that her boyfriend is a jerk, and Brenda is partially blind. They need my help, even if I can’t talk.

What is your greatest fear?
I’m afraid Debby’s boyfriend is going to kill her. He almost did that day when I saw him and Debby in her bedroom. What’s to stop him from doing more? This was in our house! If they get married like Mama wants, wouldn’t he do a lot more?

What would your best friend say is your fatal flaw (personality weakness)? Why?
Brenda would say that I need to talk. I’m not sure this is a fatal flaw, but it’s what everyone yells at me the most for.

What would the same friend say is your one redeeming quality (personality strength)? Why?
She knows I’m loyal. Daddy says I follow people around like a Labrador, and I know that’s a dog and that dogs are loyal. So yeah…that’s me.

What is your external goal in the book? Why do you want that goal and who/what stands in the way?
To protect Debby and expose her boyfriend. Mama stands in the way big time, because she wants them to get married, but has no idea what kind of person he truly is.

What is your internal goal in the book? Why do you want that goal and who/what stands in the way?
To go to college and be a teacher. I make really good grades and can read very well. I think I’d make a great teacher, but Mama doesn’t think women should do anything like this. I’m not sure, but I think Daddy feels the same way. I know they will eventually want me to just get married and have babies, like they want for Debby.

What is the primary reason you think your author insisted you get a therapeutic assessment?
Because I don’t talk, and haven’t talked in over six months. I think I have to stay mute for most of the book, and she’s got concerns about how I might talk again, why that would happen, and what would make it happen.

Anything else that you think would be helpful for me to know?
Hmm. I had no problem talking before this all happened. I don’t like it when people tell me that I could talk if I wanted to. It’s just not that easy….so please don’t say that to me.

Genre in which you reside:
Southern Historical – 1914

Author, as this character’s guardian, are there any burning questions you want answered?
Is witnessing something like this enough to cause Susan to go mute? And if I want condition to be temporary, how long does something like this generally last? Would it be realistic for her to talk to her cat and not to people?

Select Additional Questions for Susan Goodman
(sent to the author via email)

Are you scared or shy being around other people in public?
Yeah, I am. I don’t like to make eye contact with people when I’m walking around my neighborhood, and even when I could speak, I didn’t like doing so in front of others. As much as I love to read, I really didn’t want to read in front of the kids at school.

What are you most scared of happening if you were to talk about what happened between Debby and her boyfriend? Do you fear for your own life?
I’m not scared about him hurting me. He thinks I’m just this slow kid, a nuisance. But I am scared that it would cause a scandal, one that would make it to the society pages for sure. No one would want to come to the house and visit with Mama anymore and Daddy’s law practice would likely suffer. Debby would probably grow up to be an unhappy “old maid.” (Mama is afraid that’s going to happen to me because I don’t talk.)

Do you ever have tantrums at home?
How did you know about that? I do…usually when Mama catches me in her makeup and makes me wash my face with this really yucky stuff. I also get mad when I’m sent to bed early when Debby’s boyfriend is over. Mama wants them to be in the parlor alone as much as possible. It just makes me so mad! He could hurt her when no one is around.

Detailed Assessment for Susan Goodman

Susan, I bet you’re tired of people telling you that you could talk if you want to. They don’t seem to get that it’s not that you can’t talk—after all, you know the words and the language. But something holds you back. Even if you wanted to—which I bet you do at times—you couldn’t.

You have to remember that in the time of day you’re living, people really thought that a child who didn’t speak was deliberately withholding words. Your parents probably call you willful and stubborn, even. Back in 1980 when Elective Mutism first surfaced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, there were some predisposing factors for mutism listed, such as maternal over-protection, abuse, trauma, or family dysfunction. Even though that’s 60 years before your time, the prevailing thought would have been similar (and not necessarily wrong).

I asked you some of the questions I did above because I wanted to see if you fit any other diagnoses. You fit Selective Mutism (SM) the best, minus your age of 10. SM is found in the Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence, not in Communication Disorders (because people who have SM know the language and had no prior problems expressing it).

However, you also probably qualify for a diagnosis of Social Phobia, which is an Anxiety Disorder. Over 90% of people with SM get this additional diagnosis because a person’s social anxiety can heavily influence mutism. This would make sense, because you said that you are shy in public and don’t want to make eye contact with others or read aloud at school, even though you probably are a very good reader to have read all of Jane Austen’s books!

For ideas on what social phobia looks like to perhaps add in some additional details to your character, click here. But basically, if you have an anxious temperance, like being shy, worried, socially avoidant/withdrawn, fearful, and clingy, then this would also be in line with developing SM.

Also, if a first-degree relative of yours has a history of social phobia—like your dad, who prefers to work all the time instead of socialize—then its even more probable for you to develop it as well. The statistic is that 70% of children with SM have a first-degree relative with a history of a social phobia and 30% have a first-degree relative with a history of SM.

Would that you had lived in today’s time, Susan, since the disorder is called Selective Mutism. It carries with it the idea that the person isn’t refusing to speak so much as they are failing to speak in social situations. Add to that the information you’re carrying around inside…and that’s such a heavy burden!

So how long might you be forced to endure the symptoms of this rare disorder (less than 1% of the population)? The latest information in the DSM regarding the course of this disorder is that it can last anywhere from a few months to a few years, although there is a caveat that it can be “chronic” if severe social phobia is also present (meaning that you are so shy or afraid of social embarrassment that could happen as a result of speaking, a criteria that you fit). You want to speak, but simply cannot force yourself to do so.

It’s a mistake to think that only trauma can cause this disorder. A child can exhibit SM simply by experiencing the change of going to school for the first time. That’s not to say that children can’t develop SM after a trauma such as you experienced (because they can, it’s called traumatic mutism), but that’s become something of a cliché in fiction, I’m afraid.

It’s not outside the realm of feasibility that you would speak to your cat and no one else. It’s possible that children with SM might not speak at all in one context, like school, but feel comfortable talking at home. (In fact, some children are known to talk to a sibling at home, but not talk to the same sibling at school.) Generally, a child with SM does speak in certain situations, but fails to in other situations when speech is expected.

When having one of those tantrums, for instance, you might scream and even speak to your parents. Children with SM usually feel more comfortable talking at home than anywhere else, so if you do consider allowing yourself to talk somewhere, keep that in mind (i.e., talk to Snowball only at home, in your room, with no one else around).

One thing you might consider is that there is a high correlation of children with SM having an overprotective mother. Your mother doesn’t seem to fit this picture; in fact, she’s the opposite. But if she were prone to depression—which would account for the obvious alcohol abuse—then this also would fit in with the overall familial picture of SM.

Most children with SM do reach full speech recovery. Symptoms can usually resolve on their own without treatment in a few weeks or months. There are medications that can help in the present day, in particular fluoxetine (Prozac), but nothing was on the market for it back then, sorry.

A great website that I referenced for this post is the Selective Mutism Foundation. If you click on that link and scroll down, you’ll see a very helpful graph that explains how Selective Mutism came to be defined through the years.

Thanks for sitting on the couch, Susan. Hope this helps!