Friendly to the Extreme: Kids and Adults With Williams Syndrome (Link)

XiXiDu

Williams Syndrome is a rare genetic condition [...].

"Little babies will come up to you, they will stare into your face, and it will be hard to actually disengage from that stare," explained Helen Tager-Flusberg whose lab at Boston University studies the social behavior of children with Williams. "When they're four or five...whether they know you or not, within about five minutes you're their new best friend."

One fascinating study by researchers in Europe found that children with Williams show no racial bias whatsoever. While children, even babies, prefer people of their own race, the neural pathway that imprints for race bias is somehow lacking in children with Williams.

Williams Syndrome is caused by the deletion of roughly 25 genes on chromosome 7. The deletion can occur randomly during the production of a sperm or egg cell. Though there are 20,000 to 25,000 genes in the human genome, even the loss of just 25 genes can have profound effects on a person's physical, behavioral and cognitive make-up.

[...]

In one experiment to test empathy, the adult experimenter bangs her knee on a table and expresses a great deal of pain. In many runs the lab recorded, the typically-developing child just watched and expressed no empathy or concern. But children with Williams often went right over to the experimenter to rub her knee and ask, "What's wrong?"

[...]

What do most children with Williams Syndrome do when presented with the creepy spider? They pet it.

Link: abcnews.go.com/Health/friendly-extreme-meet-kids-adults-williams-syndrome/

Williams Syndrome is a rare genetic condition [...].

"Little babies will come up to you, they will stare into your face, and it will be hard to actually disengage from that stare," explained Helen Tager-Flusberg whose lab at Boston University studies the social behavior of children with Williams. "When they're four or five...whether they know you or not, within about five minutes you're their new best friend."

One fascinating study by researchers in Europe found that children with Williams show no racial bias whatsoever. While children, even babies, prefer people of their own race, the neural pathway that imprints for race bias is somehow lacking in children with Williams.

Williams Syndrome is caused by the deletion of roughly 25 genes on chromosome 7. The deletion can occur randomly during the production of a sperm or egg cell. Though there are 20,000 to 25,000 genes in the human genome, even the loss of just 25 genes can have profound effects on a person's physical, behavioral and cognitive make-up.

[...]

In one experiment to test empathy, the adult experimenter bangs her knee on a table and expresses a great deal of pain. In many runs the lab recorded, the typically-developing child just watched and expressed no empathy or concern. But children with Williams often went right over to the experimenter to rub her knee and ask, "What's wrong?"

[...]

What do most children with Williams Syndrome do when presented with the creepy spider? They pet it.

Link: abcnews.go.com/Health/friendly-extreme-meet-kids-adults-williams-syndrome/

Doesn't follow. (TL;DR: use the social model of disability, Luke.) This only proves that either Williams syndrome is bad or society is screwed up.

You have legs (probably), but no wings, and you do fine in everyday life. Things often rest on the assumption you have functioning legs - stairs, narrow doors, curbs, floor coverings, and people with no legs have trouble using them.

Yet imagine a society where everything assumes that people have wings (but not necessarily legs). Most buildings have no doors, because of course you can fly through the window. Things are placed high above your head, because of course you can fly up. There are perches you can't use if you have legs.

You and I would do horrible in such a society, with exactly the same body configuration. Neither we nor the hypothetical legless winged person are "cases of a body gone wrong", we just live in societies optimised for body types that may or may not be ours.

Likewise, people with Williams syndrome may only need atypical caregivers and institutions because the type of care they need is abnormal in our society (unlike the type of care that consists of paying other people to make your food and bring it to stores near you). If almost everyone had Williams syndrome, maybe we would need supervisers.

I would rather have wings than legs. I think I might even rather this in our society.

7Richard_Kennaway15y

I think that last "would" was supposed to be a "wouldn't", but still, I don't think so. The deficits are just too severe. If everyone had Williams syndrome, we wouldn't have a civilisation. Not all disabilities are socially constructed. If average adult height was three feet, or eight feet, we could still have a civilisation like the one we have. Only when you're a three or eight foot adult in a world of 5 to 6.5 footers does your height make things difficult. But lack of mental capacity is not like that. Mental capacity, not height, is what has given us our civilization, and if we were markedly stupider we would not have the civilization. Williams Syndrome is not just "increased friendliness". It is a whole constellation of changes, mostly for the worse. This is the sort of thing that happens when you just hack off a chunk of a chromosome. If you want the good parts but not the bad, fine, but that isn't Williams Syndrome any more.

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Friendly to the Extreme: Kids and Adults With Williams Syndrome (Link)

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Friendly to the Extreme: Kids and Adults With Williams Syndrome (Link)

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