The facial features remain recognisable but many Angelman adults look remarkably youthful for their age. The majority of those with AS achieve continence by day and some by night. Dressing skills are variable and usually limited to items of clothing without buttons or zips. Most adults are able to eat with a knife or spoon and fork. Although no-one to date with AS has been capable of living independently, they can learn to perform simple household tasks and are perhaps best suited to life in a community care home where a group of adults are cared for by a supervisor.
General health is fairly good and life-span near normal.
The affectionate nature which is also a positive aspect in the younger children may also persist into adult life where it can pose a problem socially, but this problem is not insurmountable. Deletions can be detected down the microscope or by looking at a person's DNA, their genetic material using special techniques in the laboratory. In cases with a chromosome 15 the parents' chromosomes are usually absolutely normal. If a similar deletion arises on the chromosome 15 which comes from the father, then a completely different condition called Prader-Willi syndrome results. There have been a few families where AS has recurred in a brother or sister and in these cases, there is usually no detectable deletion.