Children With Williams Syndrome Do not Judge Peers Depending on Race

If your young child doesn’t have any racial biases, it could possibly be that they possess a rare genetic disorder called Williams syndrome, reports The New York Daily News. Average individuals tend to gravitate toward favoring their own ethnic group once they reach the age of 3, according to behavioral experts. Whether this falls on the nature or nurture side of the equation is a debate that may never end, but children diagnosed with Williams syndrome appear to be free of racial bias, according to Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg of Germany’s University of Heidelberg. Those children known to be suffering from Williams syndrome did not show favoritism toward their own racial group or bias against other races in tests, unlike non-Williams syndrome kids which were tested.

Kids with Williams syndrome are hypersocial

Williams syndrome kids lack a specific gene, which some scientists feel makes living normal life difficult. On the plus side, there’s no racial bias and social anxiety is entirely foreign due to their hypersocial minds. Asking for low interest loans wouldn’t be scary, if Williams syndrome children were old enough to apply. These kids are highly verbal and overly social. Yet Meyer-Lindenberg cautions that an additional element to this condition is that these children are unable to discern social danger signals. The result is that Williams syndrome kids can’t discern via subtle cues whether someone is about to strike them, for instance. This lack of “common sense” when it comes to body language is also accompanied by more overt signs like mental retardation, heart defects and unusual facial features, according to Wikipedia.

Yet the trials of Williams syndrome could be bested

Williams syndrome kids can learn to protect themselves against violent behavior, indicates Meyer-Lindenberg. Easy socialization isn’t really exactly a handicap, either. Set aside the unalterable physical and mental symptoms and the rest is not bad. We could all stand to be more comfortable in social situations, because it is there that humanity strives to its fullest extent to grow and change. Social interaction is a dynamic pathway leading toward humanity’s evolution. We get by with just a little help from our friends… and bad credit installment loans, now and then.

Resources

The New York Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/04/14/2010-04-14_williams_syndrome_makes_kids_lack_social_anxiety_and_social_biases_study.html