Characteristics of communication in patients with Williams syndrome
2016 Volume 18 Issue 3+4 Pages 128-134
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2016 Volume 18 Issue 3+4 Pages 128-134
Williams syndrome （ws） is known for its uneven cognitive abilities, especially for visuo-spatial difficulty and hyper-social tendency. Although patients abilities in expressive language are relatively strong, early language development is delayed.
In this study, early social cognition and acquisition of expressive vocabulary were longitudinally observed and yielded the following two findings.
Early social development of a young boy with WS was longitudinally investigated using modified early social communication scales （based on early social communication scales （1996 ver.） by Mundy et al. and the report by Seibert et al. （Seibert et al. Infant Mental Health J3, 244-58）） and development of joint attention before uttering words was especially delayed. The numbers of expressive vocabularies measured by MacArthur communicative development inventory （word and gesture version） increased with the ability for joint attention. This may suggest that, as in typical children, joint attention plays an important role in children with WS in acquiring vocabulary in Japanese.
Vocabulary in each area of seven WS children at the language level of 36 months was compared to that of typically developing children using the MacArthur communicative development inventory （word and grammar version）. Spatial vocabulary （“locations and places”） is smaller in WS in Japanese, as in European languages, probably due to the visuo-spatial difficulty, as previously described. In addition, the smaller vocabulary compared to the TD in the area of “words about Time” may also be related to the relative dysfunction of the parietal lobe. These findings need to be evaluated further.
