Psychopathological and behavior impairments in Williams-Beuren syndrome

Psychopathological and behavior impairments in Williams-Beuren syndrome: the influence of gender, chronological age, and cognition. | World Intelligence Network:

"For specific cognitive abilities, those cognitive functions characteristic of the classic WBS cognitive profile (a strength in verbal skills and a weakness in spatial skills) related to significantly greater internalizing difficulties. Future studies should explore underlying genetic and neurological differences in individuals with WBS in order to help explain the variability in psychopathological and cognitive functions."

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Lincoln County Record » Cayson’s Disney Wish Granted

Lincoln County Record » Cayson’s Disney Wish Granted:

"Young Cayson suffers from a genetic disorder called Williams syndrome, also known as Williams-Beuren syndrome, a condition that causes loss of genes that can affect development. In Cayson’s particular case, one of the missing genes causes a loss of elastin in blood vessels and other tissues, which gives him a heart condition, as the missing gene causes blood vessels to narrow. Not all children with Williams syndrome suffer from the same heart condition. However, the McClures find hope by believing it’s, “in the Lord’s hands. We take it day-by-day,” says mother Tameran. Cayson had a stint put in his heart the week before Thanksgiving that will stay in for the rest of his life, and was still in the hospital on Thanksgiving, so the mother remarked they felt, “lucky he was well enough to go.”"

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Absolute Pitch in Williams Syndrome

Absolute Pitch in Williams Syndrome: "Absolute pitch is reported to occur in 1 out of 10,000 persons, usually those trained in music before age 6. We demonstrate that the five individuals we tested, who have Williams syndrome, a condition caused by a microdeletion of about 20 genes in the q11.23 region of one of their two chromosomes number seven, possess near ceiling levels of absolute pitch despite their limited cognitive abilities. With these individuals, we also describe our preliminary findings on relative pitch, transposition, and retention. We discuss the possibilities that (1) the incidence of absolute pitch among individuals with Williams syndrome is higher than that found in the general population and (2) the normal early childhood critical period of absolute pitch acquisition may be extended in individuals with Williams syndrome."

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The Times Herald - Local mom details experience raising son with Williams Syndrome

The Times Herald - Local mom details experience raising son with Williams Syndrome:

"Children with Williams syndrome will perform these friendly acts naturally, and willingly, while making each person they’re greeting feel like the man of the hour."

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Psycholinguistic abilities of children with Williams syndrome. | World Intelligence Network

Psycholinguistic abilities of children with Williams syndrome. | World Intelligence Network:

"When groups were compared, we observed inferior performance of the WS group on all ITPA subtests when compared with typically developing groups. Moreover, an interaction between reception and group was found, only the WS group demonstrated superior performance on the visual reception subtest when compared to the auditory reception subtest. Evidence from this study offers relevant contributions to the development of educational intervention programs for children with WS."

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At 10 years old, already a philanthropic entrepreneur - Daily Pilot

At 10 years old, already a philanthropic entrepreneur - Daily Pilot:

"Jack, a great lover of all things sweet and chocolately, wanted to incorporate all his favorite flavors, but it was also important for his candy to be organic, with no dyes or preservatives, so that it's safe for his younger brother Colin, 8.

Colin was born with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that severely restricts the food he can eat. It also causes serious medical conditions, and learning and social challenges.

"It's really hard for us to find food he can have," said Marcy McKenna.

Jack is also donating 20% of his profits to the Williams Syndrome Assn.

"I wanted to try to donate money to them, so they can fix themselves and get help," Jack said.

Colin, who was munching on a piece of his big brother's toffee, said it makes him feel special that Jack did this for him.

"I love my brother," he said.

The idea for Jack's Rockin' Chocolate Factory started with a simple conversation Jack had with his mother about college and business."

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Announcement from Australian Williams Syndrome Forum - NSW Snug Retreat

Australian Williams Syndrome Forum - NSW Snug Retreat:

"I am spreading the word to NSW families about a Snug Retreat specifically for families with a Williams Syndrome child. The dates are Monday 5th March –Friday 9th March 2012. There are places for up to five families and the cost will only be the travel to and from Myuna Bay Sport and Recreation Centre. Myuna Bay is just north of the Central Coast. "

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Ex-worker gets prison for stealing from client - Toledo Blade

Ex-worker gets prison for stealing from client - Toledo Blade:

"John Abood was the perfect victim, his sister said.

Born with Williams syndrome, Mr. Abood has a very low IQ, trouble with the most basic math, and is very friendly and trusting — all symptoms of the rare genetic disorder.

So, when his siblings realized the 59-year-old man had no money in his checking account and extensive overdraft fees, they knew someone likely had taken advantage of Mr. Abood’s trust.

A former Anne Grady Center employee once assigned to help Mr. Abood buy his groceries and pay his bills was sentenced Monday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. Gary Smotherman, 39, of 146 Rosalind Pl. was sentenced to 17 months in prison and ordered to pay $6,500 in restitution."

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DBHS Gives Student a Special Gift - Diamond Bar, CA Patch

Calvin, 17, has Williams Syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder. Set to graduate from DBHS next year, Calvin spent his high school years as water boy for the football team, and was also involved with track and field. During the school’s recent Homecoming game, Calvin received a big surprise: the athletic department gave him his own letterman jacket.

“Coach Ryan Maine and trainer Stacy Camou got together and gave him a letterman jacket right before the game, when the football players were announced with their parents and standing on the sideline,” Cloris said. “They called us up and placed us in the middle of the field and said some wonderful things about Calvin. It was so touching and wonderful, and he was so excited and happy.”

Although Calvin couldn’t play or compete, being part of the team in some capacity was an enriching experience.

DBHS Gives Student a Special Gift - Diamond Bar, CA Patch:

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Call for Presentations | Williams Syndrome Association

Call for Presentations | Williams Syndrome Association:

The Williams Syndrome Association will celebrate 30 years of support and education for individuals with WS and their families at next summer’s National Convention – July 3-7 in Boston, Massachusetts. Throughout the week we will bring together more than 60 experts for education and networking opportunities. The WSA’s national convention and international professional conferences are the premier continuing education event for Williams syndrome, offering unparalleled program quality and diversity. We hope you will join us!

Hometown Hero: Sweet Volunteer is 'Asset to Beaumont' - Royal Oak, MI Patch

Hometown Hero: Sweet Volunteer is 'Asset to Beaumont' - Royal Oak, MI Patch:

Joshua Levinson is a popular person atBeaumont Hospital in Royal Oak for a couple of reasons — his infectious smile and his candy cart.

The 31-year-old Royal Oak resident is known in some circles at the hospital as the Candy Man — the guy, who as the Sammy Davis Jr. song suggests, “makes the world taste good.”

For the past half-dozen years or so, he has volunteered five mornings a week at Beaumont selling chocolate and sugary treats to the staff and visitors, and otherwise brightening mornings with his winning smile.

"I like my job. It's fun," he said as he made change for a woman in the south entrance lobby. He easily charms the customer with his friendly face and warm personality. He may not say a lot to her, but she leaves smiling.

“I would say more people know Joshua than me,” said his father, Dr. Marty Levinson, a Beaumont pediatrician, “and I have been on staff here for 31 years.”

Super-social gene may hold clues to autism, other disorders

Read full article here (with video)

In some cases, he's taken cells from children with Williams syndrome, but instead of using the somewhat painful procedure to obtain skin cells, he's taken cells from lost baby teeth, using a so-called Tooth Fairy extraction kit.Gage said he’s intrigued at the idea of dissecting something as complex as human behavior down to the level of cells in a petri dish.
Already, since the grant was awarded in May, Gage and his colleagues have shown that the early proliferation of brain cells is lower in people with Williams syndrome than in those with normal function.
With time and persistence, it might one day be possible to develop drugs or other therapies that could be used to treat the conditions, Gage said.
Williams syndrome is the perfect test case for studying the link between genes and behavior, Bellugi said. The disorder is very specific, occurring only when a certain cluster of genes is missing from one of two copies of chromosome 7.
“We’re only talking about something like 25 to 28 genes out of 30,000 genes in the brain,” Bellugi said. “And it’s always the same set of genes.”

Learning to see: How vision sharpens – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs

Learning to see: How vision sharpens :

"The champion of the infant visual system is motion, which develops early and is relatively difficult to disrupt. At four weeks of age, babies can detect a flickering stimulus in a single location almost as well as adults. Babies can discriminate motion direction around seven weeks and speed by twenty weeks. Perception of global motion patterns, like raindrops seen through the windshield of a moving car, improves rapidly between three and five months and then continues to develop slowly through middle childhood. This aspect of motion processing, the most vulnerable to disruption, is impaired in some developmental disorders, including dyslexia, autism, fragile-X syndrome, and Williams syndrome."

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Six Johns Hopkins Faculty Named Guggenheim Fellows | R&D Mag

Six Johns Hopkins Faculty Named Guggenheim Fellows | R&D Mag:

"Barbara Landau is the Dick and Lydia Todd Professor and chair of the Department of Cognitive Science. Her work focuses on language learning, spatial representation and the relationships between these foundational systems of human knowledge. "The fellowship will allow me to work full-time during my sabbatical this coming year on a book that illuminates the nature of spatial knowledge in people with an unusual genetic deficit that results in severely impaired understanding of space," Landau said. The book, she said, will be titled 'Gene, Brain, Mind and Development: The Puzzle of Williams Syndrome' and is under contract with Oxford University Press. "I'll be spending most of the year here at Johns Hopkins but will also be traveling a bit to work with colleagues who specialize in the nature of human spatial knowledge," she said."

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