Chapter 5
Genetic Syndromes and Communication Disorders
Book Editor(s):Jack S. Damico,
Nicole Müller,
Martin J. Ball,
Jack S. Damico
Search for more papers by this authorNicole Müller
Search for more papers by this authorMartin J. Ball
Search for more papers by this authorSummary
Although it is well established that many genetic syndromes are associated with communication disorders, there is still a large number of disorders for which there is no information available. This chapter focuses on Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS) because these syndromes have been particularly implicated in theoretical debates about the status of language within human cognition and also because they have informed debates on innate modularity and neuro-constructivism. WS is a rare genetic disorder which is typically found in 1 in 20,000–50,000 live births, although recent research has reported incidence of 1 in 7,500. It occurs due to a deletion of approximately 25 genes on chromosome 7. DS is a genetic disorder caused by a partial or complete duplication of chromosome 21. It affects approximately 1 in 691 live births. DS is the most common cause of intellectual disability and seems to be particularly detrimental to language acquisition.
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