A Stampede of Happiness: Williams Syndrome

A friend turned me on to Jon Kent’s A Stampede of Happiness, which is a 43 minute long documentary about Williams Syndrome. It’s showing on Amazon Prime. It was quite fun to watch, and I realized I was grinning through most of it. I’m familiar with quite a few of the people shown in the documentary, and it’s a good way to get a simple, crash course in WS. I was surprised that they didn’t mention the extensive medical issues often prevalent in WS, but I assume they were choosing to focus on the happiness.

 

Part of me was also wistful because Niko has Williams Syndrome and autism. Well, to be perfectly clear, he has Williams Syndrome and AUTISTIC BEHAVIORS. The film briefly mentioned that autism and WS are utter opposites. So imagine having an autistic child who is desperate for interaction, or a Williams Syndrome child who barely speaks. That’s my sweet Niko. He doesn’t really fit in either of these two worlds, but he fits in perfectly with his family and friends.

If you have an hour, check out A Stampede of Happiness and learn a bit about Williams Syndrome. Have a lovely day!

 

2 Comments on “A Stampede of Happiness: Williams Syndrome”

  1. Hey Mercedes, Jon Kent here. Thanks for your blog about my film. To answer your question about not covering medical issues, I produced another film on Williams Syndrome in 2011 called “Embraceable.” Embraceable delves pretty deeply into medical challenges and offers a more comprehensive picture of Williams. Glad Stampede made you smile.

    1. Hi Jon! What a genuine pleasure to hear from you! I’ll check out Embraceable. Thank you for the extra information, and for doing these documentaries. They mean so much. <3

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