Listen to the segment on "Williams Syndrome" now

 

From The Infinite Mind's program on Perfect Pitch, Sharon Lerner reports on Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes mental and physical problems. People with Williams have a distinctive look as well as problems judging distances and generally lower IQ (the average is around 60). But they also seem to have a number of unusual talents. Gloria Lenhoff, who has Williams Syndrome, begins this segment saying how much she enjoys music. Then she sings, which she can do in 29 languages, and demonstrates that she has perfect pitch. We then meet Jessica Mavro, a woman with Williams Syndrome who performs an aria from The Marriage of Figaro.

Dr. Ursula Bellugi, director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, says she thinks about Williams Syndrome in terms of strengths and weaknesses. According to Bellugi, people with Williams often have a flair for expressive language and an ease with social situations as well as an affinity for music.

We also meet Howard Lenhoff, Gloria's father, who is convinced people Williams Syndrome are more likely to have perfect pitch; Nancy Goldberg, who runs a music camp for people with Williams, and Glenn Schellenberg, who is skeptical of the Williams/music connection. Howard then describes a study he conducted recently in which he tested five people with Williams Syndrome and found that they could identify pitches correctly 97.5 percent of the time. The report ends with Gloria Lenhoff singing a song she will soon perform with Aerosmith while accompanying herself on accordion.

To find out more about Williams Syndrome, call the Williams Syndrome Association at 248-541-3630. You can also log onto the Williams Syndrome Association website or click here to send email to the Association. To email the Williams Syndrome Foundation, click here. Or you can write to them at Williams Syndrome Foundation, University of California Irvine, CA 92679-2310. Or call the Williams Syndreom Foundation at 949- 824-7259. To find out more about the music camp for people with Williams Syndrome, you can email Nancy Goldberg or log on to the camp website. If you'd like to contact Glenn Schellenberg, you can write to him Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada L5L 1C6. You can also email Glenn Schellenberg.

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