LIBRARY PRESENTATION ACCENTUATES THE
POSITIVE
By Heather Tepe Special to The
Baltimore Sun, April 14, 1999.
KYLE ARCHARD is a 17-year-old junior at Atholton High
School. He works as a courtesy clerk at the Safeway in
Harper's Choice and loves to play the drums. This year, he
was chosen as "Mr. Congeniality" in his school's "Mr. A.H.S."
contest.
Kyle was born with Williams Syndrome (WS) -- a rare genetic
disorder affecting on average one of every 20,000 births.
Children with the syndrome share certain physical traits,
including pixie-like facial features -- small upturned
nose, wide mouth, full lips, small chin and puffiness
around the eyes -- and are shorter than average height.
Most of them have medical and neurological problems,
including developmental delay, cardiac and kidney disorders
and reduced mental abilities -- from low-average
intelligence to mild retardation. They also have difficulty
with hand-eye coordination and other spatially related
skills.
But that's focusing on the negative. There is also a
positive side. Individuals with Williams Syndrome
have endearing personalities. They are described as being
excessively friendly and extremely polite. Their language
skills remain intact and often are heightened. One of the
most striking aspects of WS is enhanced ability to enjoy
and perform music.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that many WS children are
musically gifted.
Although a person with WS might not be able to easily tie a
shoelace or use a fork and knife, many play musical
instruments and memorize hundreds of complicated pieces,
without being able to read music.
Scientists studying WS are discovering more about how the
brain works, how we learn to speak
and how our personalities develop.
This month, the local chapter of the Williams Syndrome
Association met at the east Columbia library to discuss WS
and the musical connection.
Kyle's mother, Nancy Catizone, arranged for a presentation
by Gloria
Lenhoff and her parents, Howard and Sylvia Lenhoff of
Costa Mesa, Calif.
Gloria Lenhoff, 44, who has WS, is a lyric soprano and
accordionist who sings in 25 languages and performs
internationally.
She has appeared on "60 Minutes" and "Nightline," and
she was the subject of the award-winning PBS documentary
"Bravo Gloria."
Howard Lenhoff, a research professor at the University of
California at Irvine, received a doctorate in biology from
the Johns Hopkins University in 1955. In recent years, his
research interests have focused on studying music cognition
in people with WS.
He told an audience of more than 30 people at the library:
"Today, you will change your views of the cognitively
impaired.
"Society focuses on what Williams people cannot do, but
these people have amazing abilities," Lenhoff said. "We all
have peaks and valleys in our brains. We're focusing now
for the first time on the peaks, not the valleys, for
people with Williams Syndrome."
Gloria Lenhoff sang a pop song and an operatic piece. The
Williams youngsters in the audience wore beaming smiles as
they swayed gently to her music and applauded
enthusiastically after her performance.
One boy shouted, "Gloria rocks!" as others gave her
high-fives and thumbs-up.
Members of the audience were invited to perform after
Gloria. Jeremy Vest, 13, of Gaithersburg, who has Williams
Syndrome, played "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin on the
keyboard -- a difficult piece to master, especially if you
can't read music.
He played it flawlessly.
The Williams Syndrome Association and the Williams Syndrome
Foundation are working to provide musical education through
summer camps and eventually universities for cognitively
impaired individuals who show musical ability. It is hoped
that WS musicians will teach, perform and become
entertainers.
The Williams Syndrome Association operates a summer camp in
Lenox, Mass., and plans to open another in San Antonio this
spring.
Susan Woda, director of Art Support -- an organization that
promotes arts education -- announced at the meeting that
her group would award a scholarship to one of the Williams
Syndrome-affiliated music and arts
camps this year. That, too, drew cheers from the Williams
youngsters. Their parents seemed equally pleased.
"The Williams kids make us into sensitive human beings,"
Howard Lenhoff said. "Having a Williams child has made me
into a much better person than I would have been."
Information about the Williams Syndrome Association or the
Williams Syndrome Foundation may be obtained on the Web at
www.williams-syndrome.org and at
www.wsf.org. Or call
248-541-3630.
