Abstract
Background: Williams syndrome (WS) is an inherited multisystem disorder characterized by cognitive and linguistic dissonance with distinct strengths and weaknesses. The aim of this studywas to investigate the characteristics of early cognitive and language development in WS children of different ages.
Methofs:106 children, aged 1-5 years, diagnosed with WS in the outpatient department of child healthcare in our hospital from September 2018 to June 2023 were included in this study. All children underwent cognitive development assessment to observe and analyze the developmental characteristics of WS children at different ages.
Results: The developmental levels of gross motor and fine motor functional areas of WS children were significantly lower than those of Global developmental delay (GDD) children, while the developmental level of language functional area of WS children was significantly higher than that of GDD children. While the language ability of WS children showed significant advantages from the age of two and remained so until the age of five. At the same time, WS children in the group basically maintained a relatively stable level in each functional area with age, and there was no difference between verbal and nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) in all ages.
Conclusions: The results of the present study identify a new feature that the relative prominence of language ability in early childhood of WS children is not a matter of their superiority over nonverbal ability, but rather a relative manifestation of language superiority as the language ability of WS children has remained stable relative to the developmental characteristics of other children with developmental delays whose language ability declines slowly with age. This finding can help us explore interventions that may help WS children reach their full potential, while emphasizing the need for individualized assessment and management of WS children to guide educational and rehabilitative strategies for WS children.