BraveBuddies™ is an intensive group behavioral treatment program designed to help children ages three to eight with selective mutism (SM) speak in school and other public places. We create a classroom-like setting that offers children a safe environment to practice verbal participation, or what we call “brave talking.” Prior to Brave Buddies, children participate in lead-in sessions, which introduce them to the staff they will be working with and help them practice brave talking.
Brave Buddies is offered as a multi-day intensive program twice a year, and as one-day sessions several times throughout the year. The Brave Buddies day is structured like a typical school day, with morning meeting, craft and sport activities, meals, and field trips to places like the library and the park. The staff guides children through progressively more challenging activities, prompting them to use verbal responses and speak spontaneously as they play with other children and adults. Each Brave Buddies day ends with a trip to the Brave Buddies prize store — a chance for children to practice buying a toy on their own with the points they’ve earned for brave talking.
