History A 10-year-old girl is brought to her general practitioner by her mother. Her mother says that she has always been shy, but her school reports that she has not spoken in class for several months. She comes from a close-knit family and she has grandparents as well as uncles, aunts and cousins living nearby. Her mother reports that she chats happily with them all and with the nuclear family. She is the eldest of two girls and her sister is reported as having no problems.
Her father is reported as being a shy, ‘reserved’ man who works for a gas production company. At school she has one close friend who she plays with at playtime (including observed imaginative play) but no other real friends. In class, when the teacher asks her a question she remains silent and looks so uncomfortable that the teachers have taken to avoiding asking her questions. She will happily get on with her work…
