Shared and syndrome-specific adaptive difficulties in preschoolers with Williams syndrome and autism spectrum disorder: a cross-syndrome study.
Preschoolers with Williams syndrome and autism match in overall adaptive delay, but Williams kids outscore autism peers on socialization, so tailor interventions to each profile.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team compared preschoolers with Williams syndrome and autism on everyday living skills. They used the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales to measure communication, daily living, socialization, and motor skills.
All kids were three to five years old. The study asked: do the two groups show the same pattern of strengths and delays?
What they found
Overall adaptive scores were nearly identical between the groups. Yet the profiles differed: the Williams group scored highest on socialization, while the autism group showed a flat line across all domains.
In plain words, both sets of kids need support, but the places they need it most are not the same.
How this fits with other research
Vivanti et al. (2017) tracked eye gaze in the same two syndromes. They also found shared attention problems, but only the autism group avoided following gaze cues. The new study extends that work from eye movements to real-life skills.
Lacroix et al. (2009) seems to disagree: they reported that children with Williams syndrome were worse at reading emotional faces than children with autism. The contradiction is only surface-deep. Face-reading is one small social skill; the Vineland socialization domain bundles play, turn-taking, and manners. A child can struggle with faces yet still charm adults, explaining why Williams scores can top autism on the broader social scale.
Ikeda et al. (2023) later showed that emotion understanding grows steadily in autism but not in Williams syndrome. Together the papers sketch a timeline: early socialization strength in Williams syndrome may fade as emotional tasks get harder after the preschool years.
Why it matters
When you write goals, do not assume autism and Williams syndrome need identical social programs. Kids with Williams may keep up in peer play, so target daily living or safety skills first. Kids with autism often need social scripts broken into smaller steps. Use the same assessment tool, Vineland, to spot the highest-need domain for each child instead of using one-size-fits-all plans.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Understanding adaptive functioning profiles in children with Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is critical to inform treatment strategies. However, knowledge in this area is limited and inconclusive. METHOD: The current study aimed to characterise the early adaptive profiles of young children with WS (n = 18; Mage = 47 months) and ASD (n = 26; Mage = 45 months) matched on chronological age and developmental age using the Vineland Scales of Adaptive Behavior, Second Edition. RESULTS: Results suggest that young children with WS and ASD do not differ on their overall level of adaptive functioning but that those with WS show relative strengths in the Socialisation scale compared with children with ASD. No other subscales differed between groups. Within groups, the WS group showed a profile of Communication, Daily Living Skills and Motor < Socialisation, whereas the ASD group did not evidence differences across subscales. CONCLUSIONS: Consideration of the shared and syndrome-specific adaptive profiles provides relevant insight on intervention targets and strategies. Given the shared challenges across the two clinical groups, implications and future directions are discussed.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2019 · doi:10.1111/jir.12670