Psycholinguistic abilities of children with Williams syndrome.

The team gave the ITPA to children with Williams syndrome. They also tested two control groups: kids matched for mental age and kids matched for birth age.

The goal was to map strengths and gaps across all psycholinguistic areas.

Children with Williams syndrome scored below both control groups on every ITPA subtest. Their only bright spot was visual reception, but even that score stayed behind peers.

The gap held for grammar, vocabulary, and auditory skills alike.

Nevin et al. (2005) first showed that children with Williams syndrome outrank children with Down syndrome on single-word tasks. Grindle et al. (2012) widen the lens by showing these same children still lag behind typical peers of any age.

Libero et al. (2016) followed the same kids for years and found expressive vocabulary grows faster than receptive or pragmatic skills. This extends the 2012 snapshot: the visual edge stays small while comprehension trouble deepens over time.

Lacroix et al. (2010) saw poor idiom skills in French speakers, matching the low receptive scores F et al. found on the English ITPA. Together they warn not to trust surface chatter as true understanding.

If you assess a child with Williams syndrome, expect friendly talk that hides broad language delays. Check both mental-age and birth-age norms before you write goals. Lean on visual cues, but do not assume they are enough. Target receptive grammar and auditory processing even when single words sound fine.