by Tiffanie Jones

Created on: May 15, 2008   Last Updated: November 25, 2008

Autism and Williams syndrome are both neurodevelopmental disorders with several similarities. I was fascinated with the story of Ann Louise McGarrah and decided to find and read the entire article titled Different Minds, by Robert Finn (1991). Finn (1991) give clear comparisons between Williams syndrome and autism.

In autism, brain damage is mainly located in the cerebellum and the brain stem, with some recently found abnormalities in the frontal cortex (Pinel 2008). People with Williams syndrome also have brain abnormalities, involving thinning in the cortex and the underlying white matter. Like autism, there is damage in part of the frontal cortex. The cortical thinning is most evident in the orbitofrontal cortex. Unlike autism, Williams syndrome is usually accompanied by heart disorders (Pinel 2008) and extremely high blood pressure, often up to 270/120 (Finn 1991) due to mutations in chromosome 7. Interestingly, 40% of people with autism also have abnormalities in chromosome 7 which prevents parts of the brain stem from developing.

Autism and Williams syndrome are similar in that with both disorders, from early childhood, those affected have extreme cognitive strengths in specific areas. An important difference is that people with autism usually have a fairly average IQ (Finn 1991) while those with Williams syndrome have IQ's around 60 or 70 (Pinel 2008). In both disorders there is usually a presence of savant abilities. In autism these could be musical, artistic, feats of memory, or math abilities. In Williams syndrome these cognitive strengths are musical and artistic. People with Williams syndrome have an amazing ability for facial recognition and are extremely outgoing and friendly, while people with autism have social deficits and avoid focusing on faces, especially eyes (Pinel 2008). From early on, people with Williams syndrome have an advanced and rich vocabulary but don't really seem to have full understanding of what is being discussed (Finn 1991) while those with autism have an underdeveloped vocabulary and don't seem to care to discuss much of anything.

I have a cousin who is twelve years old with autism and he will say anything at all that pops into his head. He is quick to let me know when I have gained weight or am having a bad hair day. He looks perfectly normal so if you don't know him and his situation he is likely to hurt your feelings with his frankness. He is in regular classes in school and is managing pretty good grades without having a paraprofessional assigned to him. A couple times a month he has dinner with a counselor and his father so they can work on social skills together and overall he is very high functioning. I could see him eventually learning to live on his own someday with someone checking on him throughout the day. With Williams syndrome there isn't much chance for them to be able to live on their own. They lack the gross motor skills needed to function on their own and in most employment (Finn 1991). I'll end with a quote from Finn's article by a psychologist named Eleanor Semel. "Educators are confused because the Williams syndrome child tests like the retarded child, talks like a gifted child, behaves like a disturbed child, and functions like a learning-disabled child."

Resources

Finn, Robert (1991). Different Minds. Discover Magazine (June 1991). Retrieved April 4, 2008 from http://www.nasw.org/finn/ws.html.

Pinel, J. P. J. (2008). Biopsychology (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

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