Fairfax County school officials determined that Seung Hui Cho suffered from an anxiety disorder so severe that they put him in special education and devised a plan to help, according to sources familiar with his history, but Virginia Tech was never told of the problem.The disorder made Cho unable to speak in social settings and was deemed an emotional disability, the sources said. When he stopped getting the help that Fairfax was providing, Cho became even more isolated and suffered severe ridicule during his four years at Virginia Tech, experts suggested. In his senior year, Cho killed 32 students and faculty members and himself in the deadliest shooting by an individual in US history.The condition, called selective mutism, is a symptom of a larger social anxiety disorder. It prompted the Fairfax school system to develop a detailed special education plan to help ease Cho’s fears so he might begin to talk more openly, the sources said.Part of his individualised programme in Fairfax excused Cho from participating in class discussions, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of Cho’s records. Another part of the plan called for private therapy to resolve his underlying anxiety. The therapy and special provisions were “apparently effective,” the sources said.But once Cho left the safe and highly structured high school setting that had created a cocoon of support, officials at Virginia Tech were never told of his condition and never addressed the issue, the sources said. Since the April 16 shootings, stories have emerged from Cho’s teachers and classmates at Virginia Tech. They say it was common for professors to call on Cho and for him to remain silent. The teachers would become angry, and students would taunt him. The severely isolated Cho began to refer to himself as “?”. All of this would have worsened his deep-seated anxiety, experts said.WHAT’S SELECTIVE MUTISMSelective mutism is a social anxiety disorder, in which a person who is normally capable of speech is unable to speak in given situations. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders selective mutism is described as a rare psychological disorder in children. Children (and adults) with the disorder are fully capable of speech and understanding language, but fail to speak in certain social situations when it is expected of them. They function normally in other areas of behavior and learning, though appear severely withdrawn and some are unable to participate in group activities due to their extreme anxiety. It is like an extreme form of shyness, but the intensity and duration distinguish it.
