Quick guide Williams Syndrome

Williams syndrome...people with intact language, intact face processing and very low IQ, right? Wrong! That’s the propagated myth because, if it were true, it would be such an elegant example of innate modularity at the genetic, brain and cognitive levels. But numerous labs across the world have shown that although vocabulary levels can be surprisingly high in Williams syndrome children, they are rarely if ever age-appropriate, with quite shallow semantics. 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. The syndrome actually illustrates the tight relationship between language and intelligence