One endearing feature of many Williams people is their fairly constant self-talk. Yes, they do have the gift to speak freely to friends and strangers in casual conversation and, when not socialising seem to continue a conversation with themselves. Just how or why that Williams Syndrome genetic deletion determines that Linda talks to herself is … Read more
I met Linda in town yesterday afternoon. She and her carer had been visiting the museum while I went to work for the morning. Like many people with Williams Syndrome, Linda has certain interests that are consuming, bordering on obsessions.
One of the new- fangled space saving devices we bought when we moved onto our new house was a combined washer-tumble dryer. There wasn’t space to fit two machines and this all-in-one machine seemed like a really practical solution but that was before we realised what it was like living with a Williams Syndrome adult. … Read more
Funny things started to happen to me soon after I turned 40, big life-changing things. I began to consider changing careers. I started to develop entrepreneurial ideas for the first time in my life! I bought a sailing dinghy. Did my friends think I was having a mid-life crisis or a revival? My mum got … Read more
One of the things that strikes me – Linda was really late learning to talk – but once she’d learned how there was no stopping her! Linda will talk and will talk to anyone who will listen. She has conversations, tells her stories. She loves telling jokes but her sense of timing rarely does justice … Read more
It all started about 40-odd years ago. My life was changed forever by the arrival of another sibling! Linda was welcome, but only just made it. Born premature, under-developed and small; it was weeks before she came home. It wasn’t long before we all knew Linda was different. She crawled but was slow to walk. … Read more
Williams syndrome (WS or WMS; also Williams–Beuren syndrome or WBS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a deletion of about 26 genes from the long arm of chromosome 7. It is characterized by a distinctive, “elfin” facial appearance, along with a low nasal bridge; an unusually cheerful demeanor and ease with strangers;