Please help me ascertain this little boy's disability

[EspressoMonkey]

DD (3) has made friends with a boy at her Jardin d'enfants. He is the first friend she was made herself and he is a local boy, which is fab because we are expats living abroad and mostly socialise with other expats as i am not fluent in French. They will likely attend school together so i am very pleased she has a friend who is a local chap. His mother is painfully shy and our conversation is limited due to my poor French, but i have invited them over to our house for a first playdate next week.

I have noticed that the little boy has some disabilities but am not sure why or what syndrome he could suffers from. It would be helpful to know before they come over to play just incase the boy's mummy mentions it, i would like to prepare myself in advance and translate the necessary words so i don't look like a total dumbo if a medical conversation crops up.

So far i have noticed:
He struggles to walk but does walk unaided.
He is quite short.
He has four fingers on each hand and his palms seem very rounded rather than more square/rectangular shaped.
He doesn't seem to have a chin.

Any ideas?

[narmada]

It could be any number of genetic conditions. Small chin, short stature and missing/ extra fingers are common to many conditions.

I wouldn't worry about the potential for awkwardness..... just treat him and his mum like you would others.

[narmada]

Cornelia de lange syndrome at a guess?

Hope the playdate goes well. It's so nice when your child make their first self-selected friend.

[EspressoMonkey]

Thanks, looked up Cornelia de Lange, it is a possibility. I know it is hard to guess these things.

V. worried about the language thing but i will scrape by. Yes v.excited DD has her first 'own' friend! Just hope i can understand him and his mummy