Longitudinal assessment of narrative profile in a Williams syndrome patient

Abstract

Williams Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder, characterised by a submicroscopic deletion on chromosome 7 q11.23 associated with a particular cognitive and socio-emotional profile. We have previously described a case study of a Williams Syndrome patient in 2005 that has further been engaged in neurocognitive rehabilitaion sessions. In this article, we compared the patient's cognitive profile at two time points (2005 and 2009) analyzing the impact of a cognitive rehabilitation programe, in terms of several neurocognitive measures. Overall, an improvement on general cognitive functioning was evident from 2005 to 2009 assessment that was manly due to a significant increase in performance measures that contrasted with stability in verbal IQ measures. We propose that the use of intervention programmes can be generalised to specific populations with cognitive impairment.