The visuospatial abilities of a young girl with Williams syndrome

Abstract

Williams syndrome (or Williams- Beuren) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by medical and cognitive developmental difficulties. It influences several developmental fields (cognition, behavior, motor). This research was carried out on a young girl with Williams syndrome, whose visuospatial abilities were tested longitudinally over a period of 22 months, from age 9 years and 3 months to 11 years and 1 month. The assumption was that the girl with Williams syndrome would have poorer visuospatial abilities than typically developing peers, and that in all tasks, due to the maturation processes, she would achieve better results in the final testing. Visuospatial abilities were analyzed by the following variables: connecting lines according to the model, copying geometric shapes, animal drawing, recogniz faces. A statistical difference was found between the visuospatial abilities of the girl with Williams syndrome and typically developing peers in all tested variables, except in face recognition. Moreover, in the final testing at the age of 11 years and 1 month, the girl achieved significantly better results than in the initial test, which is primarily the result of ongoing maturation.