Genie is the pseudonym for a feral child who grew up with her parents in California in extreme isolation. Her father severely abused her and she spent her first 12 years in her room, most of the time being strapped to a child’s potty chair. She was not allowed to make noise and when she wasn’t forgotten at night, she was bou
nd in a sleeping bag and placed in an enclosed crib with a cover made of metal screening.
The poor girl’s mother finally took her and left the father. She took her to a welfare office in California in 1970 when Genie was 13. The social worker who met with them thought Genie was 6 or 7 and autistic. Upon learning her true age, she called the police. Her father committed suicide soon after Genie and her mother left him.
Psychologists took a special interest in her and used her for research. They wanted to see if and when humans have a critical age threshold for language acquisition. Genie spent several years with foster parents who worked with her. She learned some coping methods for her anger and learned some language, but was never proficient in it.
Eventually, funding for the project was shut down and she was returned to her mother who couldn’t care for her. She ended up being passed around many foster homes and was often abused. She regressed severely and as of 2008 she was a ward of the state and in confinement in a private institution for the mentally undeveloped. Her story is one of the worst cases of child abuse known of in the U.S.
The poor girl’s mother finally took her and left the father. She took her to a welfare office in California in 1970 when Genie was 13. The social worker who met with them thought Genie was 6 or 7 and autistic. Upon learning her true age, she called the police. Her father committed suicide soon after Genie and her mother left him.
Psychologists took a special interest in her and used her for research. They wanted to see if and when humans have a critical age threshold for language acquisition. Genie spent several years with foster parents who worked with her. She learned some coping methods for her anger and learned some language, but was never proficient in it.
Eventually, funding for the project was shut down and she was returned to her mother who couldn’t care for her. She ended up being passed around many foster homes and was often abused. She regressed severely and as of 2008 she was a ward of the state and in confinement in a private institution for the mentally undeveloped. Her story is one of the worst cases of child abuse known of in the U.S.
No comments:
Post a Comment