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Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
Published in: Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 1/2024

Open Access 01-12-2024 | Research

Pragmatic skills in people with Williams syndrome: the perception of families

Authors: Esther Moraleda Sepúlveda, Patricia López Resa

Published in: Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases | Issue 1/2024

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Abstract

Background

One of the most challenging linguistic areas in people with Williams Syndrome throughout their evolutionary stage is the development of pragmatic skills. The research conducted so far highlights specific problems concerning adaptation to the linguistic context and interlocutors, language comprehension, as well as other aspects interfering with verbal communication. However, until now, most scientific evidence has been based on personal assessments of this group. In a complementary manner, the goal of this study was to discover the level of pragmatic skills of people with Williams Syndrome from the point of view of the families. The sample consisted of 34 families belonging to the Williams Syndrome Association of Spain. The assessment instrument was the pragmatic awareness questionnaire, which includes 26 items related to different aspects that are part of the pragmatic area on a Likert-type scale.

Results

The results indicate that, families consider there to be a regular to low level in all the areas assessed. The strong points seem to lie in the paralinguistic aspects, while the weakest factors are those related to the understanding of figurative language.

Conclusions

Therefore, it is necessary to continue insisting on the importance of language intervention in this group throughout its development to improve its level of linguistic competence.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Pragmatic skills in people with Williams syndrome: the perception of families
Authors
Esther Moraleda Sepúlveda
Patricia López Resa
Publication date
01-12-2024
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases / Issue 1/2024
Electronic ISSN: 1750-1172
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-024-03016-0

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