ON-SITE TRAINING at the Dorothy E. Stevens Community Center in Kennebunk, ME
Beyond Silence: Helping Students with Selective Mutism Find Their Brave Voices at School
Friday, December 4th, 2026
9:00am-3:00pm
Investment: $219.00
PO’s are welcome – email me for details
Overview
This experiential, interactive, course equips school teams with take-away tools to support students with selective mutism in finding their brave voices. Through guided learning activities embedded throughout, attendees will learn and practice evidence-based tools and strategies while exploring the critical role of initial evaluation and ongoing data-based progress monitoring.
Target Audience
Any school staff member who will be serving as the “keyworker” (i.e. brave voice teacher) for a student with selective mutism. Frequent staff members for this role include; speech language pathologists, SLAs, school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, special educators, and case managers. This is a helpful training for staff who have taken a previous training as well as staff who are new to the brave voice journey.
Learner Objectives
- Explain SM in your own words
- State who may ethcially provide an SM diagnosis
- Clarify the need for an initial evaluation
- Describe a fade-in
- Provide an overview of the communication ladder
- Illuminate the importance of data-based monthly progress monitoring
- Defend why brave voice interventions are critically important
Successful completion of these outcomes will be determined via a seven question self-assessment.
Continuing Education Information
In order to earn a certificate of completion, learners will be expected to;
- be present for the entire presentation
- sign in and out
- answer a seven question self-assessment by 12/11/26
- Partial credit is not available for this course
- No credit is available for self-assessments submitted after 12/11/26
Schedule
9:00-9:30am – A brief review of selective mutism
9:30-9:36am – Choosing your starting points – The critical need for an initial evaluation
9:36-9:47am – Eligibility considerations
9:47-9:50am – Go time! Which methodology will you use?
9:50-9:54am – The pep talk
9:54-10:00am – Guided practice
10:00-10:30am Stimulus fading: What is it and how do I use it?
10:30-10:45am – Break
10:45-11:30am – Guided practice using child directed interactions and verbally directed interactions
10:45-11:02am – Bridging the gap: Carrying out a parent facilitated fade-in
11:02-11:30am Guided practice
11:30-11:40am Building your student’s “talking club”. Helping your student share their voice with new listeners
11:40-12:00pm Guided practice
12:00–12:30pm – Lunch Break – Assorted sandwiches and drinks will be provided
12:30-12:45pm Helping your student share their voice across new settings and tasks
12:45-1:15pm Guided practice
1:15-1:45pm – Bringing your student’s voice into the classroom (or larger world)
1:45-2:00pm Shaping: What is it and how do I use it?
2:00-2:15pm – Break
2:15-2:35pm – Special considerations for tweens and teens
2:35pm-2:45pm – The how-to-guide for monthly progress monitoring
2:45-3:00pm – Bringing all the pieces together and a message of hope
**Training is on-site at the Dorothy E. Stevens Community Center, 80 Thompson Road, Kennebunk, ME. Please click here for directions.
Annie DiVello M.S., CCC-SLP; M.Ed.
Presenter
Annie is a licensed and ASHA certified Speech-Language Pathologist. She is also one of 89 clinicians around the world certified in PCIT-SM. Annie has lived and worked across the country in West Virginia, Georgia, South Central Los Angeles, and New England. Though she has worked with many populations, Annie’s particular area of clinical interest is selective mutism. She enjoys providing trainings for school teams across the nation on the topic of SM. In New England, Annie provides school-based selective mutism evaluations and works collaboratively with teams to build and implement integrated plans of support. Internationally, Annie is co-leading the 2026 PCIT-SM certification training en route to becoming a senior PCIT-SM training leader. Annie is passionate about her field and about helping individuals to find their voices. Annie feels the ability to communicate is a beautiful gift and the foundation of the human connection. Empowering school teams to bring their students’ brave voices to school is one of her greatest joys.
Speaker’s Disclosures:
- Founder – Our Brave Voices (receives a percentage of attendee registration fees)
- Co-leading the 2026 PCIT-SM Certification
- PCIT-SM Cooperative Offering with Dr. Steve Kurtz – Kurtz Psychology
Complaint Procedure
It is my mission to provide current, evidence-based, and meaningful information to meet your learning needs. I seek to closely follow the learning objectives outlined in each course description. I hope you will leave each training with feeling inspired and equipped with take-away tools and ready to apply knowledge.
If you are dissatisfied for any reason, please email me within 30 days of the event and state why your learning needs were not met. It would be helpful if you could provide examples of how/why the course content differed from the course outline and learning objectives. I would be happy to offer you a different course free of charge and/or to meet with you 1:1 to talk through your concerns. Providing helpful and satisfactory trainings is of the utmost importance to me. If my training has not met your needs, please allow me the opportunity to ameliorate the situation.
Refund Policy
If Our Brave Voices cancels a course due to extenuating circumstances, all registered attendees will be refunded fully within 15 days of the cancellation notice. If an attendee cancels their registration with at least 24 hours notice of a scheduled event, they will be refunded in full minus a $10.00 processing fee. Cancellations made with less than 24 hours notice from a scheduled event are non-refundable.
Special Accomodations Policy
If you require any special accomodations to attend this training, please email me at least 7 days prior to the training and let me know how I may best assist you. I will take every action step within reason to accomodate your request.