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Visual and visuospatial development in young children with Williams syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2001

Janette Atkinson ,
Shirley Anker ,
Oliver Braddick ,
Louise Nokes ,
Alexandra Mason  and
Fleur Braddick
Janette Atkinson
Affiliation:
Visual Development Unit, Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Shirley Anker
Affiliation:
Visual Development Unit, Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Oliver Braddick
Affiliation:
Visual Development Unit, Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Louise Nokes
Affiliation:
Visual Development Unit, Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Alexandra Mason
Affiliation:
Visual Development Unit, Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Fleur Braddick
Affiliation:
Visual Development Unit, Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
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Abstract

This study investigated the relation between sensory visual problems and the severity of visuospatial difficulties in a large group of young children with Williams' syndrome (WS). A questionnaire describing visual and associated problems was completed by the families of 108 children with WS and detailed follow-up assessments were conducted, including visual, spatial, motor, visuocognitive, and linguistic tests of 73 of these children (mean age 7 years 3 months; 40 males, 73 females). Children with WS showed a much higher incidence of common paediatric sensory vision problems (strabismus, visual acuity loss, amblyopia, reduced stereopsis) than normally developing children. It was found that delays with respect to age normative values increased with age on all tests. No significant correlation was found between the presence of a visual deficit and the severity of the visuospatial problems, suggesting that the difficulties children with WS have in understanding spatial arrangements are not simply a result of their earlier sensory visual problems. Results confirm the dissociation between visuospatial and language abilities in children with WS, and support the neurobiological model of a split between ventral and dorsal stream processing of visual information with a generalized deficit in dorsal stream processing in young children with WS.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology , Volume 43 , Issue 5 , May 2001 , pp. 330 - 337
Copyright
© 2001 Mac Keith Press

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