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| Williams Syndrome |
 3. Area of Difficulty
o Word finding
This is most apparent for some children in 'stress' situations such as when they are asked a question which has only one right answer, while for many it is a problem in their spontaneous speech as well. A lot of children develop the strategy of 'circumlocution,' or talking around the word. This strategy can result in language at times seeming not to make sense, but can be effective when combined with a short attention span. The child may start speaking about one thing, have trouble thinking of a needed word, come up with a somewhat related phrase, and move on to talking about something more related to the substitute phrase than the initial topic.
Teaching Strategies
o Work closely with the speech therapist regarding helpful strategies to use/teach
o Phonemic cueing (providing the child with the first sound of a sought after word). This can be bewildering for some children who may then just look to you and wait for the rest of the word.
o Encourage the child to gesturally cue himself (e.g. "What did you do with it - how did you use it?")
o Encourage the child to use visualization to cue himself (e.g. "What did it look like?")
4 Area of Difficulty
o Learning some math skills including coins/money/time concepts, and manipulating columns of numbers (such as double digit math problems)
Teaching Strategies
o Adapt materials
o Digital clocks and watches
o Calculator use
o Teach time concepts by personalizing
o Use wall calendars for daily, weekly and monthly schedules with events sketched or written in
o Encourage the elementary school aged child to have a date book
o Be flexible in curriculum, avoiding a rigid 'prerequisite' curriculum design
o Some children may never learn coin values but should move on to the next curriculum phase which they may be able to more readily understand
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