PURPOSE: To describe the communicative profile of individuals with Williams-Beuren syndrome. METHODS: The sample comprised 12 subjects with the syndrome, with chronological ages between 6;6 and 23;6 (Group 1), that were compared to other 12 subjects without the syndrome matched by mental age who had no language/learning difficulties (Group 2). The subjects were evaluated during conversational situation in order to classify verbal and non-verbal behaviors according to pragmatic criteria, number of turns per minute, sentences per turn, Mean Length Utterances, frequency and type of speech disfluencies, and classification regarding the type of full pauses of the speech. RESULTS: The communicative profile of Group 1 showed easiness to interact during communication situations that involved the presence of variable structural and functional linguistic limitations, when compared to the subjects of Group 2. The subjects of Group 1 frequently used communicative strategies in the attempt to fill in the communication space, making use of clichés, sound effects, intonation resources and the full pauses, which proved to be favorable from the socio-communicative's point of view, whereas echolalic and perseverative verbal behaviors can harm the communicative performance of these individuals. CONCLUSION: Group 1's worse communicative performance suggests that linguistic disabilities can be found in this condition, independently from the difference between chronological and mental age. Wider studies could allow an answer to the question of whether or not cognitive and linguistic abilities are dissociated in this syndrome, as well as to how complex is such correlation among human communication impairments.
Cognition; Communication; Language; Williams syndrome
