Studying Music's Impact on Anxiety

Seth Link has been drumming since he was a toddler. Like many with Williams Syndrome he uses music for expression.
"You have all this energy and stuff, and you want to be able to experience it, you know, and to share it with other people," Link said.
The condition affects an estimated one in 7,500 babies. For people with Williams Syndrome, a missing part on the seventh chromosome can lead to learning disabilities and heart trouble. They have another trait, extreme friendliness and empathy, to the point of being less able to detect risky situations or ill intentions in others.

Beating the Odds, and the Drums

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - He was born with a rare genetic disorder that could make living his everyday life difficult, but instead Seth Link is beating the odds and taking chances leading him to the national spotlight.
In this journey we call life, Seth Link is beating the odds stacked against him at birth with music.
This 21-year-old was born with a rare developmental disability called Williams Syndrome.
"There's things called chromosomes and we are missing a few chromosomes on a gene" explained Seth.
Even with his disability, Seth said greatness has never been out of reach. He just took those frustrations and made music with his drums.
"You're able to use that negative energy to let it go and to be able to make something positive happen out of it," Seth said.

Singers with Disabilities to Perform at Academy of Country Music Awards

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center will take center stage in a special performance at the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards April 3 at 8 p.m. on CBS. Chart-topping country music artist Darius Rucker will join 25 young adults with developmental disabilities for a once-in-a-lifetime musical event to benefit the Kennedy Center.
The musical guests are participants in the ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp held each summer at the Kennedy Center for people with Williams Syndrome, autism and other disabilities. ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music, sponsored the Kennedy Center’s six-year-old music camp for the first time in 2010.