And I’m confident that your connections will join with mine in six handshakes or less. Each has been valuable and many have also been life-changing for Ben and our family. Thinking back over Gary’s and my 35-year journey with Williams syndrome, there are countless connections that have been forged through our active participation in WSA events. Each time I speak to the family of a teen or adult with WS who has just learned about the WSA, I am saddened to think of all the help and support that they have missed without the valuable connections that the WSA can provide, but also hopeful because regardless of the age of their child, now that they have found us, they still have time to make life-changing connections for the future. Today, I’d like to talk a little about the Williams Syndrome Association’s role as “connection-maker” and the critical difference the WSA can make for each of us when we take advantage of the opportunities it provides. Their uncanny ability to “work a room” and come away with a host of new “best friends.” We’ve also talked about the difference that connections can make during our journey with a child with Williams syndrome, and how the importance of that realization led us to re-imagine and broaden our former regional program as a Family Support Network. During awareness month we focused on the incredible ability that individuals with Williams syndrome often have in this regard. How does this relate to us, as parents and caretakers of those with Williams syndrome? We have been talking for several weeks now about connections. It’s the idea that all people, on average, are six, or fewer, social connections away from each other.
Most of us are familiar with the theory of ‘ six degrees of separation’ – maybe you saw the play or movie of the same name starring Will Smith, or watched the new Discovery Series on the topic with Mike Rowe, or perhaps you’ve played the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.
"Six degrees of separation" is the theory that everyone is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.