Angelman Syndrome
Angelman Syndrome (AS) is a genetic disorder first described by pediatrician Dr. Harry Angelan in 1965. He noted that these children had some traits in common: an unstable jerky gait, unusually happy demeanor, variable developmental delay (usually severe by traditional testing methods), lack of speech or only a few words(but receptive language skills may be much higher than expressive language skills), small head size, abnormal electroencephalograms, and seizure disorder.
Other features often noted are sleep disturbances, flattened back of the head, excessive drooling, chewing, and other oral behaviours, hyperactivity, hypopigmentation when compared to other family members, wide-based gait, and feeding problems in infancy.
The Canadian Angelman Syndrome Society is dedicated to educating parents and professionals about AS and disseminating information about it.