Abstract
Six cases are presented of voluntary mutism in which it is postulated that the speech defects, while not demonstrably the sole etiological factors, were causally related to the mutism. In each of 5 cases, amelioration of the mutism occurred as the speech therapy program progressed. The very mild articulation defect of the 6th case interfered only slightly with intelligibility. The findings are in disagreement with previous investigators, who concluded that psychotherapeutic treatment was most effective. These studies indicate that speech therapy techniques which do not include psychotherapy or play therapy seem advisable.

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