Our Son Pat on Panel Session at Williams Syndrome National Convention

The Williams Syndrome Association just finished its biennial National Convention; this year it was held at the wonderful Baltimore Marriott Waterfront hotel.

The convention is full of research presentations, advice for parents and teachers, and lots of fun activities for all who attend.

Our son Pat was asked to be on one of the panels, “Growing Up with Williams”, and I thought I’d share his responses to the questions that he and other panel members were asked (see videos at end of this post).

I’ve written about Williams Syndrome before, and Pat’s experiences with it. I’ve also written about the annual walks that are held to raise money and awareness of Williams Syndrome.

The Williams Syndrome Association (WSA) is a wonderful organization whose mission is to enrich the lives of individuals and families affected by Williams syndrome and similar conditions through support, research and education.

It was a touching scene at the end of the Convention yesterday as we watched those with WS give hugs to each other; people they had become best friends with over the past few days.

So congrats to the WSA on another successful national convention, and thank you to all those who volunteered to make it such a success.

Here are the video clips from Pat’s panel session (they are all less than one minute):

Pat’s intro:

Pat’s favorite, not so favorite chores:

Pat’s future goals (lots of traveling!):

Pat’s best advice from his parents (I guess we set the bar pretty low):

Pat’s thoughts on money management. Pat is great at saving his money, spending it mostly on travel and going out with his friends:

Pat’s favorite music (anything but country):

Pat’s advice to middle schoolers:

Pat’s thoughts on social media:

Pat’s thoughts on transportation:

Way to go Pat! You were awesome – we are very proud of you!