Williams Syndrome: UD Research Pinpoints Language And Learning Traits Of Those With Williams Syndrome

Williams Syndrome: UD Research Pinpoints Language And Learning Traits Of Those With Williams Syndrome:

"People with Williams Syndrome, a genetic disorder affecting an estimated one among every 25,000 individuals, are frequently described as having extraordinary musical and verbal skills, despite a profound inability to conceptualize spatial information.

Yet, research at the University of Delaware--to be presented Nov. 6 in Boston, Mass.--shows that language use by children with Williams Syndrome may, in fact, be directly affected by their cognitive deficits related to spatial events.

And, studies of eye movement among Williams Syndrome children, scheduled for presentation Nov. 20 in Dallas, Texas, suggest that some of this spatial deficit may result, at least in part, from 'their tendency to allocate attention to smaller regions of space than normal children, as well as their difficulties encoding an object's properties and location,' says Barbara Landau, a professor of psychology and director of UD's Language and Cognition Laboratory."