My hope with this blog is help people better understand what kids and parents go through, that face anxiety on a daily basis. They never said life was easy, but as I a parent I always wanted my kids to enjoy life just being a kid and not worry on a daily basis. Have you ever had that feeling of fear for your own child without them even being in pain? It's a feeling that you wish you didn't have to have. There's nothing like it. See 13 years ago I had a little girl named Onnaka, everything seemed so normal. The usual baby stuff you go through and watching them grow up into a toddler before your eyes. I was fortunate enough to stay home for the first 2 years of her life. I had to return back to the work force and had to put both her and her older sister into daycare. I remember the first time I was told by the daycare that Onnaka wouldn't talk or participate in anything, she wasn't being vocal at all. My first thought was that she was just being shy because she was always around family and this was new to her. So as the months went by I was constantly being told that she wouldn't talk and still wouldn't do any group activities. So I took her to the doctor and I was simply told she will grow out of it. I took the doctors advice and stuck with it. When Onnaka was 4 years old she started preschool. That's when things started to get challenging. Onnaka wasn't talking in school at all. I didn't understand what was going on with her, she was a normal 4 year old at home. The teachers would tell me on a regular basis that they couldn't assess her on any reading or anything verbal. No one could figure out what was going on with Onnaka. Not even Onnaka would tell us why she wouldn't talk in school, but she would at home. Then in kindergarten her teacher would get so upset with me over Onnaka not speaking. I cried so many nights because I didn't know what to do for her. That was the worst feeling I ever felt I knew she was smart but her teachers had no clue. One day after many arguments with teachers and staff members of the school I was told about an anxiety that people have called Selective Mutism. The principal of Onnaka's school had told me that she knew of another kid that had it in the school. Then she proceeded to give me this parents information. I decided at first there was no way I wanted to except my child having anything wrong with her. But I made the phone call that changed everything on what was going on with Onnaka. Everything she was going through and doing was the same exact thing this other little boy was going through. I received a number and a name of a psychiatrist that specialized in this anxiety.  We went to several sessions and finally received the diagnosis of Selective Mutism. Selective Mutism is an anxiety disorder also known as the Shy Kid Syndrome. Basically when people experience this type of anxiety they shut down in some way. I couldn't believe my little girl was already experiencing anxiety this bad at such a young age. Months of sessions and medication to help Onnaka wasn't getting anywhere. Even with a diagnosis we were still battling the teachers saying they couldn't assess her to see if she was at grade level. But Onnaka was still passing we couldn't figure it out. Only time could tell if Onnaka was going to eventually grow out of this or learn how to manage her anxiety.