All I really know about that condition is how it affects my friend and that it's genetic. But I was kinda curious so I went to the Wikipedia article (linked above).
Which includes the quote: "It is characterised by (....) an unusually cheerful demeanor (...) a love of music (...)"
I know, it's wikipedia and you gotta take it with a huge pinch of salt. But I don't know whether to find that insulting or amusing.
Clearly if you are a particularly cheerful person and love music you might just have Williams Syndrom (or at least according to Wikipedia you might)
***
It's 1.32 AM. why am I still up?!
6 comments:
When it comes to medical matters I usually use Answers.Com which is, in my opinion, more accurate than Wikipedia.
Wikipedia :-). And sadly I can't do anything to improve that article at the moment.
The first I came to know about Williams Syndrome was through an article in September 1995 about a boy named Bradley. The thing which interested me most was that he was overfriendly to adults. (I later came to know that it is called Williams-Buerre in Europe, and just Williams in the anglophone world).
Later on, I put it into Third-Formers at the Remedial School where you might just meet the first socialist (Marxist) with Williams' syndrome, who also studies at Eton. He is a teacher's son and great friend to the main character - after they have some bust-ups and arguments through print. He does love music.
As for places to go, I look up MedLine or EMedicine, when I have time to log in and remember my password. Hasty Pastry is good too, especially for experiences.
More recently (this year or late last), there is a young woman named T in my Internet life who writes to a special education message board. She loves the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats, and has written some searing messages on her MySpace. (Well, she is actually quite a few years older than I...). This was the first time EVER I had a first person view.
Also, another good place to look at (rare) syndromes especially is Ettina's page. Here we are: click on the 'rare syndromes' section.
Oliver Sacks tends to balance things out. Try to read Musicophilia if you can. It tells about a music camp that people with Williams' go to.
Well, I guess I missed that one, I like music but I have a sarcastic demeanor, what does that mean. Haha. It it great to read you (I am procrastinating from work - sorry).
Williams syndrome isn't so much genetic (there're no WS genes to inherit) as chromosomal--it's the result of a small deletion on the 7th chromosome.
My son's rare disorder is also from a deletion on 7, but a different larger segment is deleted in his case--still, we've had queries about whether he has a WS diagnosis, he has some of the usual list of characteristics, especially in facial features and easy sociability. And oddly, my daughter without the deletion has the striking "starburst iris" that's also a listed characteristic of WS.
http://www.williams-syndrome.org/
Still, though, I often find Wikopedia helpfull when a parent is asking for ideas for something concerning their child, and I want to have an IDEA of the disability someone is talking about... which helps prevent me from making suggestions that are grossly uncalled for.
Robbie Williams loves music, does that mean he has Williams Syndrome?
Sorry, couldn't resist that.
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