Any experience with Selective Mutism?

Glad it is getting easier for her.  My two boys, 11 and 15, are somewhat like that.  They have a hard time talking to people they don't know but it is getting better.  I started trying to get them to order for themselves when we would go out to eat and it seems to be helping.  I was proud of my oldest, he just started his sophomore  year of HS, we went to the school to get his new ID, schedule and such.  He took two classes online over the summer and one of the ones he took was on his schedule so we saw a counselor to get it changed.  I was very surprised that I did not have to say anything, he did all of the talking and I just sat there and listened.

Glad she's getting better.. . I was going to have to recommend that you start her on programming classes and just write her off as a *shudder* developer...

Just kidding, I work in software, I love my devs :) 

Joining clubs during/after school may help as well by interacting more closely with a smaller group.

Music may help as well.  As shy as I tend to be in unfamiliar settings (especially when I was younger), I never got stage fright on stage playing guitar and singing.

Glad she has made good progress and thanks for posting the update. 

Just an update; if you read the entire thread you'll know my oldest daughter was diagnosed with selective mutism at age 9 and has undergone therapy and some medication since. She is now a 16 year old sophomore and while she will never be a great conversationalist with others she has become able to carry a conversation if needed. 
 

I'm not a guy who talks about my issues really but this is something I wish we had addressed earlier so I kick the thread up every few years to hopefully remind people that some things need addressed. Maybe you need to talk to someone, maybe you see issues with your family that you are waiting to fix themselves. Don't wait. Jump in and address it. Thanks for the support here guys!

Thank you for the long-term updates.  I hope it comntinues to improve for her!

It's amazing to see this kind of positive growth in people, especially children.

I wouldn't say I was selectively mute but I definitely fall in the socially anxious crowd. I would rather run a marathon than walk up, cold, to a person I don't know. My heart just races and I get STRESSED.

Good on you as a parent for noticing and trying your best to help, regardless of how long it took.

As a 16 year old, I presume she is able to understand, or explain, what it is that she didn't (doesn't) like about speaking to people?  Is it still a situation where she'd just as soon stay silent, but knows that she needs to get past it?

We all have our thing, don't we?  For some strange reason, I'd rather talk to someone face to face than on the telephone.  I ignore that about 20 times a day at work, but I still find it odd...

The interesting thing is not that she doesn't have anything to say; but, in her own words it's that she thinks other people will judge her words. It's an interesting mix of "I don't want to talk" and "what are people going to think when I do talk". So not talking for so long actually led to a self defeating attitude towards talking when she was able to. I'm not a talker (except cars and hot wheels) either so I understand and commiserate completely but I try to give her plenty of 1on1 time to talk and put her in positions with me where she can experience conversation outside of her circle. At this point she does worry about work; and life after school but I tell her that at 16 I planned to live in an airstream in my parents back yard and by the time I turned 18 I left and have rarely been back; things change as you develop. Just trying to give her every opportunity to develop.

Evidently, I have Selective Mutism which used to be called extreme shyness, introvertism, or just being a wall flower and I never liked confrontation or being the center of attention and would almost faint if I ever had to give a speech. I was fine in a one on one conversation but not 3 or more interactions. I finally outgrew all of them them (except giving a speech) after my kids started going to school and I had to deal with rotten kid's bulling and dealing with their parents and the school authorities who let it happen.

Your daughter should write in a journal so that she can express her thoughts and feelings instead of keeping them bottled up inside. Good school activities are band and chess club.

There are a ton of stops on the social/situational anxiety train; selective mutism is just one. 
 

Edit: Since a few have asked what else she does and made suggestions she does participate in marching band being first chair flute. Also plays decent guitar, journals and plays video games with her peers....like a normal 16 year old.