Medical problems involving vision or hearing, including sensitivity to sound (hyperacusis), are frequently associated with Williams syndrome. In addition, problems with the digestive tract and the urinary system are also possible. Obesity or diabetes can develop in adulthood.
People with WS may have mild to moderate delays in their cognitive development (ability to think and reason) or learning difficulties. They also may have a distinctive facial appearance, and a unique personality that combines over-friendliness and high levels of empathy with anxiety.
Williams syndrome may cause poor growth in childhood, and most adults with the condition are shorter than average. Williams syndrome can also cause endocrine concerns like having too much calcium in your blood and urine, an underactive thyroid and early puberty.
Behavioural difficulties include: lack of social inhibition/discrimination, attention deficits, fears phobias, generalized anxiety (often related to health and illness), preoccupations obsessions (e.g. certain types of machinery e.g. lawn mowers, washing machines) and perseverative behaviour (doing or saying the same ...
The personality of individuals with Williams syndrome involves high sociability, overfriendliness, and empathy, with an undercurrent of anxiety related to social situations.
Children with Williams syndrome typically have a personality that is friendly, outgoing, and/or talkative.
Learning: Most children with Williams syndrome usually have mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. This means they learn all skills at a slower pace than other children. They often have a certain pattern of learning strengths and weaknesses. Strengths in speech, long term memory, and social skills.
Failure to thrive as an infant: Babies born with Williams syndrome tend to grow slowly and have a lower birth weight. Many experience feeding problems due to poor muscle tone in their mouth and throat. They may have extended colic (irritability and crying). Poor muscle tone and lax joints.
Yes, but the number and the severity of problems varies greatly among individuals. Many different body systems can be affected and since some of the medical problems can develop over time, it is important that individuals with Williams syndrome receive ongoing medical monitoring and supervision.
Williams syndrome is called the happy syndrome because people with this condition often have outgoing, friendly personalities and tend to be very social. They may have a unique ability to connect with others and form strong bonds, making them appear very happy and engaging.
It affects approximately 1 in 10000 Australians. There are many symptoms that vary from person to person, but they each share a very social and friendly disposition and have a deep affinity with music.
Infants with Williams syndrome stare at other people's eyes and babies with autism avoid eye contact. However, several individuals with Williams syndrome are also diagnosed with autism. This suggests that they share an underlying mechanism and understanding one disorder can shed light on the other.
Autism and Williams syndrome are genetically based neurodevelopmental disorders that present strikingly different social phenotypes. Autism involves fundamental impairments in social reciprocity and communication, whereas people with Williams syndrome are highly sociable and engaging.
Can people with Williams Syndrome have a child/children of their own? There are no significant physical reasons why people with Williams Syndrome cannot conceive normally, but their own health may pose a potential risk, particularly if they have a heart condition.
Social Skills in Williams Syndrome
People with Williams syndrome tend to have a strong drive for social interaction with others. This is often referred to as hypersociability and is present in children and adults with Williams syndrome.
Williams syndrome is a progressive disorder with multisystem involvement.
As well as a learning disability, people with Williams syndrome will often share distinctive facial characteristics including a wide mouth with a pronounced bottom lip, slightly high and rounded cheeks, and widely-spaced teeth.
Individuals with Williams Syndrome have very good short-term memory and imitation abilities. This allows them to imitate words and even entire sentences, but without necessarily understanding the meaning behind it (Thomas et al., 2006). 19. People with Williams Syndrome are likely to have your best interests at heart.
The most common psychiatric disorders found in Williams syndrome have been reported mainly in children and include Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in 65%, Specific Phobia in 43%, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in up to 24% of cases.
The low I.Q., however, ignores two traits that define Williams more distinctly than do its deficits: an exuberant gregariousness and near-normal language skills. Williams people talk a lot, and they talk with pretty much anyone [p.
There is little evidence for self-injury in Williams syndrome. Several studies have examined aggression in Williams syndrome and a review of aggression is far less common in Williams syndrome (6-15%) compared to other syndromes such as Smith-Magenis, Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes, who all have rates over 70%.
Williams syndrome is a spectrum disorder. There is a great deal of variability in individuals throughout the spectrum. Medical concerns and learning challenges, emotional issues, and anxiety are common and can be all-consuming at times. The severity of the challenges varies and can ebb and flow over the years.
Individuals with WS exhibit consistent and unique patterns of social behavior, characterized by an overly friendly, affectionate, engaging, and socially disinhibited personality particularly toward strangers, apparent cross-culturally, and through separable channels of communication, such as eye gaze and language.
"You listen to what I say, I listen to what you say, and then we build on that," Pober says. "But to sustain the attention and build on the dialogue enough to really get to know someone is hard for many folks with Williams syndrome." Pober says few people with William's syndrome marry, and even fewer have children.