re: #163 Backwoods_Sleuth

He has Down Syndrome. She has Williams Syndrome.
They just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.

Your good news story of the day:

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I didn’t know what Williams Syndrome was.

From Wikipedia, parts bolded are mine:

Among the hallmark traits of individuals with Williams syndrome is an apparent lack of social inhibition. Dykens and Rosner (1999) found that 100% of those with Williams syndrome were kind-spirited, 90% sought the company of others, 87% empathize with others’ pain, 84% are caring, 83% are unselfish/forgiving, 75% never go unnoticed in a group, and 75% are happy when others do well.[37] Infants with Williams syndrome make normal and frequent eye contact, and young children with Williams will often approach and hug strangers. Individuals affected by Williams syndrome typically have high empathy, and are rarely observed displaying aggression. In regards to empathy, they show relative strength in reading people’s eyes to gauge intentions, emotions, and mental states.[38] The level of friendliness observed in people with Williams is often inappropriate for the social setting, however, and teens and adults with Williams syndrome often experience social isolation, frustration, and loneliness despite their clear desire to connect to other people.[35]

I think some good research should be done here. These folks have a genetic “developmental disorder” that results in them being nicer people?? That’s amazing and worthy of study.