Can people with Williams syndrome have normal intelligence?

Even claims about very low IQ turn out to be exaggerated. Williams syndrome IQ ranges from 48 to 85. True, people with Williams syndrome are often very loquacious and usually have better language than spatial skills, but the profile of the syndrome is unscientifically exaggerated by secondary sources.

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What are people with Williams syndrome good at?

People with Williams syndrome typically have difficulty with visual-spatial tasks such as drawing and assembling puzzles, but they tend to do well on tasks that involve spoken language, music, and learning by repetition (rote memorization).

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Can someone have mild Williams syndrome?

What is Williams syndrome? Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder. People with WS may have mild to moderate delays in their cognitive development (ability to think and reason) or learning difficulties.

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Do people with Williams syndrome have learning difficulties?

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.

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What are the intellectual characteristics of Williams syndrome?

Williams syndrome (WS) should be suspected in individuals with the following findings: Intellectual disability affects most individuals and is typically mild. Specific cognitive profile includes strengths in verbal short-term memory and language and extreme weakness in visuospatial construction.

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Living with Williams Syndrome (A Condition that Makes You Friendly)

33 related questions found

Is there a spectrum for Williams syndrome?

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.

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Is Williams syndrome a form of mental retardation?

Williams syndrome is caused by a microdeletion of at least 16 genes on chromosome 7q11. 23. The syndrome results in mild to moderate mental retardation or learning disability. The behavioral phenotype for Williams syndrome is characterized by a distinctive cognitive profile and an unusual personality profile.

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Does Williams syndrome get worse with age?

There is also evidence of accelerated ageing among individuals with Williams syndrome. An early onset of hearing loss is common and may coexist with hyperacusis (aversion to loud noises). There may also be premature greying of hair.

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Can people with Williams syndrome lead a normal life?

Most people with Williams syndrome have a normal life expectancy, but some may have a reduced life expectancy due to complications of the disease (such as cardiovascular problems). Oftentimes, people with Williams syndrome will need additional support as they grow into adults.

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Are people with Williams syndrome sociable?

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.

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How many people have Williams syndrome in Australia?

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.

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Is Williams syndrome a form of autism?

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.

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Why are people with Williams syndrome so friendly?

Scientists realized it was related to the levels of oxytocin. They knew that oxytocin is involved in social/intimacy behaviors, like mother-child bonding or romantic encounters. And they found that people with Williams syndrome have a lot more oxytocin than everybody else, and that it fluctuates wildly in the brain.

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Are people with Williams syndrome nice?

People with Williams syndrome are described as having exceptionally friendly personalities, extremely sensitive and empathic, and therefore are also called “love children.” Williams syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by the deletion of one of the two copies of about 26 genes found on chromosome 7 in humans [1].

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Do people with Williams syndrome like music?

Most individuals with Williams syndrome have an affinity to music. They are touched by music in ways not usually seen in the general population.

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Is Williams syndrome progressive?

Williams syndrome is a progressive disorder with multisystem involvement.

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What are some interesting facts about Williams syndrome?

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.

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What is the average age for Williams syndrome?

Most patients with Williams syndrome are diagnosed as a newborn or in early childhood. The average age of diagnosis is around three and a half years.

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Is Williams syndrome associated with ADHD?

Children with Williams syndrome frequently present with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but there is little information that stimulant medication is useful in this population.

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Are people with Williams syndrome always happy?

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.

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Are people with Williams syndrome aggressive?

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%.

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Do people with Williams syndrome marry?

"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.

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Do kids with Williams syndrome sleep?

Beyond infancy, findings have consistently indicated that children with WS have more sleep problems than age-matched TD children, including sleep anxiety, bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, frequent night waking, general restlessness, and excessive daytime sleepiness [10, 11, 41,42,43,44,45,46,47].

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Who are some famous people with Williams syndrome?

Several famous (or recognizable) people have been diagnosed with Williams syndrome, which include:
  • Amy Kotch, featured in KLRU-TV's public media.
  • Gloria Lenhoff, a soprano singer who has performed with Aerosmith, and the San Diego Master Chorale.
  • Ben (Big Red) Monkaba, a member of the Black Cat community theater.

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Does Williams syndrome affect the brain?

Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic developmental disorder that affects many parts of the body, including the brain, heart, blood vessels, and facial features. The syndrome often causes brain-related symptoms such as intellectual disabilities, cognitive impairments, behavioral issues, and specific personality traits.

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