Is that so?
A slander per se claim does not require that the plaintiff prove special damages.
This is because slander per se claims involve categories of defamatory statements that are presumed to be damaging to the plaintiff. While the categories may change a little from state to state, and evolve over the years, one of the most common slander per se categories is imputing criminal conduct to the plaintiff.
If the defamatory statement falls into the category of libel, the plaintiff only needs to prove the essential elements, i.e. 1) the defendant published a defamatory statement about the plaintiff and 2) other people were exposed to the statement.
There are no additional requirements because the law presumes that once the publication of a defamatory statement has been made in written or other formats, the statement will remain in the public sphere for a long time and continue to do harm.
Once the plaintiff has successfully proved defamation, "general damages" are presumed.
The plaintiff is not simply limited to damages reflecting his or her economic losses, but the mental anguish and other emotional distress that the law presumes to result from having your reputation harmed.
Depending on what the plaintiff proves about the defendant's intentions, and the type of defendant, punitive damages may also be awarded to the plaintiff.
https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/civil-litigation/defamation-libel-slander.html