Wild Child The Story of Feral Children
摘要
TLDRThe video examines the lives of feral children, who are often abandoned or raised in isolation, and the profound effects of their upbringing on their development. It highlights notable cases such as Oksana Malaya, who lived with dogs, and Victor, a wild child studied in the 1800s. The narrative explores the nature versus nurture debate, questioning whether genetics or environment shapes humanity. It discusses the challenges these children face in acquiring language and social skills due to neglect, emphasizing the importance of early intervention. The video concludes that while feral children have remarkable survival strategies, they often struggle with reintegration into society, and ongoing research aims to better understand and support their needs.
心得
- 👶 Children are precious and rely on adults for love and survival.
- 🌳 Feral children raise questions about humanity and development.
- 🐶 Oksana Malaya lived with dogs after being abandoned.
- 📚 Victor was studied for his lack of language and empathy.
- 🧠 Neglect affects brain development, leading to lasting consequences.
- ⏳ Early intervention is crucial for improving outcomes.
- 🐾 Animals can provide companionship for neglected children.
- 🔍 Research on feral children continues to evolve.
- 💔 Feral children often struggle with reintegration into society.
- 🌍 The story of feral children is ongoing as neglect persists.
时间轴
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
Children are vital to humanity, fulfilling our instinct to nurture and continue our lineage. However, the abandonment of children raises questions about their survival and development, particularly in extreme circumstances. Feral children, those raised without human contact, challenge our understanding of nature versus nurture, prompting inquiries into what it means to be human.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
The concept of feral children has historical roots, with myths like Romulus and Remus and Tarzan illustrating the fascination with children raised by animals. These cases serve as natural experiments, highlighting the debate over genetic versus experiential influences on human development.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
One notable case is Oksana Malaya, who, after being abandoned by her alcoholic parents, lived with dogs for five years. This experience led her to adopt canine behaviors, raising questions about the impact of such extreme neglect on her humanity and development.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
Historically, the study of feral children began with the case of Victor, a boy found in France in the early 1800s. His capture sparked scientific interest, leading to observations about his lack of language and empathy, which were seen as indicators of his humanity. Despite efforts to socialize him, Victor struggled to learn language, highlighting the challenges faced by feral children.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
The fascination with feral children continued with cases like Kaspar Hauser in Germany and documented instances of children living with wolves. These stories, while often dismissed as myths, fueled scientific inquiry into the effects of isolation and neglect on child development.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
Harry Harlow's experiments with monkeys demonstrated the importance of maternal care and physical contact in healthy development. His findings raised questions about whether similar effects would be observed in humans, particularly in cases of extreme neglect.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
In the 1970s, the case of Jeannie, a girl raised in isolation, provided a unique opportunity for scientists to study the effects of neglect on language acquisition. Despite initial progress, Jeannie faced significant challenges in developing language skills due to her traumatic upbringing and lack of early stimulation.
- 00:35:00 - 00:43:22
Recent cases, such as that of Edik, a boy found living with dogs in Ukraine, illustrate the ongoing issue of neglected children. While Edik has shown improvement in a supportive foster environment, concerns remain about the long-term effects of his early experiences on his social and linguistic development.
思维导图
视频问答
What are feral children?
Feral children are those who have been abandoned or raised in isolation, often lacking social interaction and language skills.
What is the nature versus nurture debate?
The nature versus nurture debate questions whether human behavior is determined by genetics (nature) or environment and experiences (nurture).
Who is Oksana Malaya?
Oksana Malaya is a Ukrainian girl who lived with dogs for several years after being abandoned by her alcoholic parents.
What happened to Victor, the wild child?
Victor was a boy found in the woods of France in the early 1800s, studied for his lack of language and empathy, and later lived with a caregiver.
What challenges do feral children face when reintegrating into society?
Feral children often struggle with language acquisition, social skills, and emotional connections due to their traumatic pasts.
How does neglect affect brain development?
Neglect can lead to smaller, malformed brains, particularly affecting areas responsible for language and social skills.
What is the significance of early intervention for neglected children?
Early intervention can improve outcomes for neglected children, helping them develop language and social skills.
Are there modern cases of feral children?
Yes, there are ongoing reports of neglected children with feral-like behaviors being discovered today.
What role do animals play in the lives of feral children?
Animals can provide companionship and warmth for feral children, sometimes becoming their primary source of affection.
What is the future for children like Oksana and Edik?
Their futures depend on early intervention and supportive environments, but they may still face significant challenges.
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- 00:00:01children are precious to humankind
- 00:00:05we satisfy our innate desire to nurture
- 00:00:08and carry on our bloodline through our
- 00:00:11progeny our children in turn rely on us
- 00:00:15for love and survival what happens to a
- 00:00:19child that's been abandoned by all who
- 00:00:21are charged with protecting him and left
- 00:00:24to fend for himself in the wild or when
- 00:00:28a girl grows up in solitary confinement
- 00:00:30in her own family home never knowing
- 00:00:34love or social interaction since the
- 00:00:39earliest of time such stories were
- 00:00:41thought to be nothing more than myth
- 00:00:44could there be any truth to the lore of
- 00:00:47feral children
- 00:00:54the word feral means wild are
- 00:00:57undomesticated it brings to mind the
- 00:00:59myth of Romulus the founder of Rome and
- 00:01:02his twin brother Remus who were raised
- 00:01:04by a wolf or that of Tarzan who lived
- 00:01:08among animals in the wild for centuries
- 00:01:11feral children have posed questions that
- 00:01:14go to the very heart of what it is to be
- 00:01:16human one of the central questions in
- 00:01:19all of science that has to do with
- 00:01:24humans is are we a product of our genes
- 00:01:28or are we a product of our experience
- 00:01:31the old nature-nurture issue feral
- 00:01:33children tap into this because they are
- 00:01:37the natural experiment that we're not
- 00:01:39allowed to carry out they are the
- 00:01:43children who go through extraordinary
- 00:01:46circumstances at which no one could
- 00:01:49naturally create but the fascination I
- 00:01:53think actually originates in these sort
- 00:01:55of primal ideas about the difference
- 00:01:58between humans and animals
- 00:02:01part of being a human is being brought
- 00:02:03up by him you're not brought up by
- 00:02:06humans are you completely human and I
- 00:02:10think in some of these cases that's the
- 00:02:12issue that we're doing
- 00:02:19one of the most extraordinary cases ever
- 00:02:21should recently come to light into
- 00:02:23Ukraine Oksana Malaya was born in
- 00:02:27November 1983 according to medical
- 00:02:30records she was a healthy child so how
- 00:02:34did Oksana become more like a dog than a
- 00:02:37human being
- 00:02:40her parents were alcoholics and one
- 00:02:43night too drunk to care
- 00:02:45they left Oksana outside looking for
- 00:02:50warm the three-year-old crawled into the
- 00:02:52farm kennel and curled up with the
- 00:02:54mongrel dog that probably saved her life
- 00:03:00but while the dog helped her survive her
- 00:03:04time in the kennel also had awful
- 00:03:06consequences for the next five years she
- 00:03:11would spend her life living as a dog
- 00:03:15[Music]
- 00:03:24no bottomless puzzle reformer she was
- 00:03:27more like a little dog than a human
- 00:03:29child first of all she couldn't speak or
- 00:03:31she could hardly speak and actually the
- 00:03:34purpose of speaking what she didn't
- 00:03:36think it was necessary to speak at all
- 00:03:37akia what pretty wish could do a shoe
- 00:03:40she knew was the wooden man wore the
- 00:03:44other hard he'll stop yeah children can
- 00:03:47copy the habits of the creatures around
- 00:03:48them if those creatures human beings
- 00:03:51they become like human beings not
- 00:03:52stylish but as you know she was
- 00:03:54surrounded by dogs
- 00:03:55he's also he became more like a dog
- 00:04:08but surely the story of Oksana is a
- 00:04:11rarity the product of alcoholic parents
- 00:04:14in a poor and depressed part of the
- 00:04:16world incredibly it was seemed not
- 00:04:20throughout history children have been
- 00:04:22abandoned by their parents most died
- 00:04:24quickly but some the survivors have
- 00:04:27resorted to extraordinary means to stay
- 00:04:30alive
- 00:04:32how they have survived and who they
- 00:04:34become our questions that have long
- 00:04:36fascinated scientists but understanding
- 00:04:39these children has been a slow and
- 00:04:41difficult process
- 00:04:44very very good clinicians and
- 00:04:46researchers have with the tools that
- 00:04:48they had in their day and age they tried
- 00:04:51to understand what happened but because
- 00:04:54it's such a complex set of phenomenon
- 00:04:57our understanding has been limited and
- 00:05:00it's incrementally from generation to
- 00:05:03generation generation we've had better
- 00:05:04tools to better understand what happens
- 00:05:06when these children the first
- 00:05:09scientifically documented case occurred
- 00:05:11in 1800 in France it would send
- 00:05:14shockwaves throughout civilized Europe
- 00:05:23[Music]
- 00:05:28the scientific study of feral children
- 00:05:31began in the most improbable of
- 00:05:33circumstances on a cloudy afternoon in
- 00:05:38southwest France two hunters were out in
- 00:05:41the woods looking for deer it had been a
- 00:05:44long day and they hadn't caught anything
- 00:05:46but their luck was about to change
- 00:05:49[Music]
- 00:06:00for years scared villagers had talked of
- 00:06:04a strange wild child that lurked in the
- 00:06:06forest he had been caught twice before
- 00:06:12but had always managed to escape this
- 00:06:18time however he wouldn't get away
- 00:06:32news of the capture spread fast in Paris
- 00:06:35one young doctor jean 8r was especially
- 00:06:38interested the boy was brought to Paris
- 00:06:45most of the city's medical professionals
- 00:06:47quickly decided that the boy now called
- 00:06:50Victor was nothing more than an idiot
- 00:06:52but something about him captivated HR
- 00:06:55the first thing which is truly
- 00:06:57remarkable arica is his extremely
- 00:07:00scientific approach to reporting what he
- 00:07:03did he gives a wonderful wealth of
- 00:07:08detail about the child what the child
- 00:07:11did when he tried certain things so he
- 00:07:15is very clearly linked into a tradition
- 00:07:19which were still involved with now the
- 00:07:23modern scientific study of feral
- 00:07:25children had begun for 8r there were two
- 00:07:28tests of what it meant to be human the
- 00:07:31ability to feel empathy and to use
- 00:07:33language Victor could do neither and so
- 00:07:36was innate our thighs scarcely human
- 00:07:43no Senora at first he was wild and hard
- 00:07:47to control but slowly
- 00:07:49dr. 8r and his housekeeper madame guerin
- 00:07:51started making progress a card belief in
- 00:07:56love and kindness seemed to be working
- 00:08:02but after his years alone in the wood a
- 00:08:05car knew that Victor still craves for
- 00:08:07the wild
- 00:08:10every day they would walk together and
- 00:08:12with every day Viktor became less wild
- 00:08:18and eventually madame guerin
- 00:08:21was able to take over what were for
- 00:08:23victor some of his happiest times he
- 00:08:28loved nature but he also seemed to be
- 00:08:30showing real feelings for the people
- 00:08:31around him I think that joint have
- 00:08:36understood the importance of parental
- 00:08:39love and so he put Victor in a situation
- 00:08:44where he had in essence a substitute
- 00:08:48mother Madame Donna and she played the
- 00:08:52role of mother she understood the
- 00:08:54importance of constant care and
- 00:08:58understood intuitively how important it
- 00:09:02is to touch people
- 00:09:06and in a month that followed there was
- 00:09:09even more progress
- 00:09:12Victor enjoyed helping madame guerin and
- 00:09:15had learned to lay the table but one
- 00:09:21lunchtime he was laying the table as
- 00:09:23usual when madame guerin started crying
- 00:09:28her husband had recently died
- 00:09:32incredibly Victor's seemed to understand
- 00:09:38quietly he simply removed the place
- 00:09:41setting
- 00:09:47this was the breakthrough 8r had been
- 00:09:50waiting for
- 00:09:51Victor's seem to be showing real empathy
- 00:09:54and understanding at last
- 00:10:06by putting away the place delays he was
- 00:10:10showing that he could empathize with my
- 00:10:12hunger and he realized that he'd made a
- 00:10:14mistake that his mistake had had hurt
- 00:10:17her I think in by doing that he was
- 00:10:20showing his ability to put himself in a
- 00:10:22position of another human being
- 00:10:23something which when he was first fought
- 00:10:25two pirates would have been impossible
- 00:10:27Victor had passed the first of eight ARS
- 00:10:30tests nervous but excited eight I
- 00:10:33realized that it was Now or Never
- 00:10:35it was time for Victor to learn to talk
- 00:10:39[Music]
- 00:10:42but before he could talk a car wanted to
- 00:10:46know that mr. could recognized sounds to
- 00:10:49test this he blindfolded him and gave
- 00:10:51him a drum and a bell it was a game
- 00:10:56Victor loved and understood immediately
- 00:10:58for a car this was just the start he and
- 00:11:01wanted did this mean that Victor would
- 00:11:04finally be able to master language
- 00:11:06[Music]
- 00:11:08a drum is one thing but language is
- 00:11:15infinitely more complex before he would
- 00:11:17be able to talk ate on you that Victor
- 00:11:20would have to master his vowel sounds
- 00:11:22through the building blocks of all
- 00:11:24language oh how clever the God but this
- 00:11:32time Victor was at a complete loss to
- 00:11:34him it was all nothing more than a game
- 00:11:40a car could see his dreams for Victor
- 00:11:42disappearing before his eyes and for the
- 00:11:45first time ever lost his temper with the
- 00:11:47boy no
- 00:11:53but it was no good a car realized that
- 00:11:56Victor just couldn't make sense of the
- 00:11:58sounds that other children take for
- 00:12:00granted without this how could he ever
- 00:12:05be expected to talk it's how I felt that
- 00:12:09to be a human being and in the fullest
- 00:12:10possible sense you had to be sociable
- 00:12:12you had to be language using had to be
- 00:12:15measured
- 00:12:15orderly artificial and when you realize
- 00:12:19he was unable to obtain that I think you
- 00:12:22lose interest and really was undivided
- 00:12:26for the next twenty years
- 00:12:28Victor would live with madame guerin
- 00:12:30happy but abandoned by the man who had
- 00:12:33tried so hard to save him with Victor a
- 00:12:36car had shown that it was possible to
- 00:12:38bring a feral child back into society
- 00:12:41but with language the ultimate test he
- 00:12:44had failed despite this interest in
- 00:12:47feral children continued unabated in
- 00:12:511828 a young boy kaspar hauser was found
- 00:12:55lost and alone in Germany
- 00:12:58his background is much of a mystery as
- 00:13:01Victor's and as the century wore on more
- 00:13:04reports were appearing from distant
- 00:13:06corners of the globe from India in
- 00:13:08particular came a series of stories
- 00:13:11about children living with Wolves
- 00:13:13distant and unproven to scientists they
- 00:13:16seemed little more than myth then in
- 00:13:181930 a properly documented case of two
- 00:13:21girls living the Wolf Pack came to light
- 00:13:24American scientists were particularly
- 00:13:26interested but before the girls could
- 00:13:29get to the United States both died of
- 00:13:31fever
- 00:13:34one of the scientists who had been
- 00:13:36waiting to see them was primatologist
- 00:13:38Winthrop Kellogg despite this setback he
- 00:13:42was determined to prove that nurture was
- 00:13:44the dominant influence in child
- 00:13:45development
- 00:13:48Caleb knew that the perfect way to prove
- 00:13:50his theory was to engineer a feral child
- 00:13:53to bring together baby put them on
- 00:13:55wolves and to see what happened clearly
- 00:13:58is the one experiment he couldn't do
- 00:13:59this is the forbidden experiment so what
- 00:14:02he decided to do was the next best thing
- 00:14:03which was to reverse back in forbidden
- 00:14:06experiment and to bring an aide into
- 00:14:08human family for the next year the
- 00:14:11chimpanzee gua would spend every day
- 00:14:13with Kellogg's young son Donald as
- 00:14:16Kellogg had predicted Gua could learn
- 00:14:19many human characteristics but the
- 00:14:21experiment had unforeseen consequences
- 00:14:24Calabrese also did this experiment on
- 00:14:26the chimpanzee an actual time became
- 00:14:29equal in terms on his thumb particularly
- 00:14:32in the way which is done with apples or
- 00:14:34not speaking out language rather than
- 00:14:36learning words
- 00:14:38Donald was learning the barks and yelps
- 00:14:40of a chimpanzee horrified Kellogg called
- 00:14:43off the experiment almost by accident
- 00:14:45Kellogg had shown the vulnerability of
- 00:14:48early childhood how the smallest changes
- 00:14:51in environment can have unforeseen and
- 00:14:53long-lasting effect it was a subject
- 00:14:56that continued to intrigued scientists
- 00:14:591860s American clay colleges Harry
- 00:15:02Harlow continued where Kellogg has left
- 00:15:04off
- 00:15:07Paulo's work was really seminal in this
- 00:15:09entire field because he showed the
- 00:15:12crucial importance of the caregiving
- 00:15:14relationship between a mother and an
- 00:15:17infant and how the physical stimulation
- 00:15:19literally the physical contact with the
- 00:15:22caregiver has profound impact of health
- 00:15:25development at birth Carlos took baby
- 00:15:29monkeys from their mothers they were
- 00:15:32then given a choice between a cold wire
- 00:15:34monkey with milk or a soft warm monkey
- 00:15:37without amazingly they chose the more
- 00:15:41comforting figure every time and
- 00:15:44socially the effects were devastating
- 00:15:47raised in isolation without any love or
- 00:15:50encouragement these young monkeys were
- 00:15:52scared and confused
- 00:15:54Harlow couldn't explain it but something
- 00:15:56about this early isolation had damaged
- 00:15:59them for life but these were monkeys
- 00:16:04would the same be true for a human child
- 00:16:07it would be another 20 years before
- 00:16:10scientists had a chance to find out and
- 00:16:12when they did it would be in the busiest
- 00:16:15most urban setting imaginable officials
- 00:16:19in the Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia
- 00:16:21have taken custody of a 13 year old girl
- 00:16:23and they say was just in such isolation
- 00:16:25by her parents that she never even
- 00:16:27learned to talk the girl still wore
- 00:16:29diapers and with uttering infantile
- 00:16:31noises social worker discovered the case
- 00:16:33two weeks ago the authorities are hoping
- 00:16:35she still may have a normal learning
- 00:16:37capacity
- 00:16:39among the first to see the child was
- 00:16:41Temple City detective sergeant Franklin
- 00:16:43Lee
- 00:16:45[Music]
- 00:16:52I already knew that a child was 13
- 00:16:54minute after years old and I took one
- 00:16:57look at her and she wasn't much bigger
- 00:17:00than my daughter Beverly who had just
- 00:17:02turned seven about three months earlier
- 00:17:05and I really had a hard time conceiving
- 00:17:10of the idea that the child was the age
- 00:17:11that she was the child obviously had
- 00:17:15been severely mistreated after she was
- 00:17:18still in diapers couldn't walk
- 00:17:19she had no verbal skills at all at that
- 00:17:21point
- 00:17:23[Music]
- 00:17:26the last time I was on this street was
- 00:17:28probably thirty years ago
- 00:17:33but there it is
- 00:17:36hasn't changed much the backyard looks
- 00:17:39the same it's all we can do grass looks
- 00:17:44the same as it did 1970
- 00:17:47the house belonged to Clark Wiley a
- 00:17:50loner Clark had turned his back on the
- 00:17:52world after his mother had been killed
- 00:17:54in a hit-and-run accident after the
- 00:17:57accident things in a Wiley House would
- 00:17:59never be the same again
- 00:18:01[Music]
- 00:18:05the house was completely dark all the
- 00:18:08blinds were drawn there were no toys no
- 00:18:11clothes nothing that would ever indicate
- 00:18:14a child of any age live there
- 00:18:18[Music]
- 00:18:22child embezzling was back in this corner
- 00:18:27that was the bedroom the windows were
- 00:18:31covered to about the three inches from
- 00:18:33the top actually the only natural light
- 00:18:36that had ever come in there and all the
- 00:18:37time the child was in the bedroom entire
- 00:18:41furnishings as a bedroom consisted a
- 00:18:42cage with a pulldown chicken wire lid
- 00:18:47and some type of piece of wire securing
- 00:18:51it when they closed it down there was a
- 00:18:53potty chair with some kind of homemade
- 00:18:56strapping device for 13 years Jeannie
- 00:19:00had spent her night locked in bed her
- 00:19:03days strapped to a potty chair during
- 00:19:06that time Clark had ordered his son John
- 00:19:09and wife Irene never to talk to her in
- 00:19:13her darkened room she had led a life of
- 00:19:15near total isolation
- 00:19:20even close neighbors were completely
- 00:19:22unaware of her presence
- 00:19:26the police was there and they came to
- 00:19:28question us that's when we found found
- 00:19:30out you know what happens and you know
- 00:19:33that they had nobody knows nobody knew
- 00:19:37before and when we found out what
- 00:19:40happened how she was treated I mean
- 00:19:42everybody was shocked and just
- 00:19:45unbelievable for their whole marriage
- 00:19:48Clark had imposed his will on Irene and
- 00:19:51blind with cataracts she had been too
- 00:19:54scared to resist but one day something
- 00:19:56broke while Clark was out buying
- 00:19:59groceries she seized her chance and fled
- 00:20:01it was the first glimpse the world would
- 00:20:03have of Clark and Irene's dark secret
- 00:20:05well I met Clark and I really
- 00:20:08temple city sheriff's station they were
- 00:20:10both under arrest at the time when we
- 00:20:12interviewed Irene she would make no
- 00:20:15mention of the family whatsoever
- 00:20:16particularly the children I attempted
- 00:20:20along with my partner to interview Clark
- 00:20:22he refused to talk to us he wouldn't say
- 00:20:24a word he never even acknowledged that
- 00:20:26he understood what we were talking about
- 00:20:28unable to face the truth Clark took
- 00:20:30matters into his own hands
- 00:20:35this morning the authorities reported
- 00:20:37the 70 year old Clark Wiley shot and
- 00:20:40killed himself this before he was to go
- 00:20:41to the course of the arraigned for child
- 00:20:43abuse after 13 years Jeannie was at last
- 00:20:48free and for scientists she was just the
- 00:20:51case they had been waiting for for 13
- 00:20:56years Jeannie had lived a life of
- 00:20:59complete isolation raised in a city
- 00:21:02bedroom Jeannie was as much a feral
- 00:21:04child and if she had been brought up by
- 00:21:06one at 13 she was the size of a
- 00:21:11six-year-old worst of all she had never
- 00:21:13been taught to speak the question now
- 00:21:16could she ever learn Janie Cates was so
- 00:21:23straight if eclis important that the
- 00:21:25government funded a team of Sciences to
- 00:21:28help answer the many questions she posed
- 00:21:33to of the scientists who would become
- 00:21:35especially important to Jeannie or child
- 00:21:38psychologist James Kent and linguist
- 00:21:40Susan Curtis
- 00:21:44neither had ever encountered a case as
- 00:21:46Extreme as Feeny
- 00:21:54we look at her as he as a newborn in a
- 00:21:58way even though we know she had she came
- 00:22:00with 13 years of memories and
- 00:22:02experiences not all of them wonderful
- 00:22:04most of them not I think and so we
- 00:22:06thought we needed to start to exposure
- 00:22:08to what the world is going to be like
- 00:22:11for her outside the hospital bed to
- 00:22:14Jeannie everything was a new experience
- 00:22:18we did what you would do with with your
- 00:22:20own kids if you're reducing into the
- 00:22:22world it take them out and hold up and
- 00:22:24show them and for the judge from how
- 00:22:27they reacted to whether this was too
- 00:22:28much or not enough and you could move on
- 00:22:29and do the next thing Haney was making
- 00:22:32amazing progress as the experts looked
- 00:22:34on they realized that she might be the
- 00:22:37answer to the question that had troubled
- 00:22:38science for so long so we seized this
- 00:22:44wonderful opportunity that she provided
- 00:22:46us in as loving away as we could but
- 00:22:50using it to finally get our chance to
- 00:22:54address head on specific hypotheses and
- 00:22:58notions about human language and human
- 00:23:01mind these hypotheses were based on the
- 00:23:05latest ideas about how children's brains
- 00:23:07developed according to the theory young
- 00:23:10children could only learn certain things
- 00:23:12at certain times called critical periods
- 00:23:16language was one of these critical
- 00:23:18periods and according to the theory
- 00:23:20Jeannie who is now a teenager had missed
- 00:23:23her chance forever
- 00:23:26but incredibly kini seemed to be proving
- 00:23:29the theory wrong as this footage shows
- 00:23:31genie was blossoming not only was she
- 00:23:34delighted by the world around her but
- 00:23:36she was learning the word for the new
- 00:23:38things she was being
- 00:23:43he was extremely interested in
- 00:23:46everything around her she wanted to know
- 00:23:48the word for everything around her she
- 00:23:50wanted to engage people all around her
- 00:23:53she was not mentally deficient her
- 00:23:55lights were on and everyone who worked
- 00:23:57with her from teachers to therapists to
- 00:24:01me knew that she was not [ __ ] it was
- 00:24:05clear as day and as she began to learn
- 00:24:09more more more hundreds of words much
- 00:24:12more rapidly than I ever meant and
- 00:24:15stringing them together I began to think
- 00:24:18maybe I will be wrong maybe she will be
- 00:24:21the one that will prove that this
- 00:24:23hypothesis is incorrect but Jeanne could
- 00:24:27not escape the effects of her path so
- 00:24:29easily
- 00:24:29she was still haunted by her traumatic
- 00:24:32upbringing trapped by the memories of
- 00:24:34the awful fate she had suffered and
- 00:24:36linguistically she had stopped making
- 00:24:39progress
- 00:24:39she learned tons of which she has made
- 00:24:42enormous vocabulary but men which is not
- 00:24:45worried
- 00:24:45language is grammar languages sentences
- 00:24:50how do you make a sentence what can be
- 00:24:53assumed what is assumed how do you
- 00:24:55automatically know something soon
- 00:24:58so it wasn't because she was cognitively
- 00:25:00deficient in other respects it was
- 00:25:04because she was cognitively
- 00:25:06deficient in this island of human mind
- 00:25:10the mental faculty to be called Grammer
- 00:25:12at the time Jeannie was found brain
- 00:25:15science was in its infancy but today we
- 00:25:18have a much clearer picture of what
- 00:25:19actually happens in cases of extreme
- 00:25:21neglect like genies ingenious brand the
- 00:25:26last part of her her brains they her
- 00:25:28cortex that that has those neural
- 00:25:31systems responsible for speech and
- 00:25:32language because she never heard any
- 00:25:34words and because she was never taught
- 00:25:37spoken to very often they didn't get
- 00:25:40stimulated and because they weren't
- 00:25:42stimulated they got smaller and less
- 00:25:46functional and disconnected and
- 00:25:48ultimately that part of the brain
- 00:25:50literally physically changes today with
- 00:25:53modern imaging technology we can
- 00:25:55actually see what happens in the brains
- 00:25:58of feral children and the effects are
- 00:26:00shocking without normal stimulation
- 00:26:04their brains are smaller and malformed
- 00:26:06and the earlier this neglect begins and
- 00:26:08the longer it carries on the worse the
- 00:26:11damage will be starved of stimulation
- 00:26:14genes brain has simply not developed the
- 00:26:16capacity for language and now that she
- 00:26:19was a teenager she would never be able
- 00:26:21to learn despite this Genie continued to
- 00:26:24be a closed part of everyone's life but
- 00:26:27there was more trouble ahead
- 00:26:32children have to belong to somebody when
- 00:26:34they grow up and she was still a child
- 00:26:35and she need a family to belong to so
- 00:26:38that's what we would have like a family
- 00:26:40she could belong to that's not what
- 00:26:43happened unfortunately what did happen
- 00:26:46is about the worst outcome I think we
- 00:26:50would have envisioned on her 18th
- 00:26:53birthday
- 00:26:53Janie moved back with her mother Irene
- 00:26:55into the house in which she had been so
- 00:26:57terribly abused but after only a few
- 00:27:00weeks it was clear that Irene couldn't
- 00:27:02cope from here Jeannie was moved into
- 00:27:05State care with terrible consequences I
- 00:27:09was a student and people wouldn't listen
- 00:27:12to me people who needed to intervene did
- 00:27:15not listen to me and so I spent lots and
- 00:27:18lots of time on the phone pleading with
- 00:27:20people to intervene and save this person
- 00:27:23who had had the worst experience of
- 00:27:27deprivation and isolation in all the
- 00:27:29crazy medical history Jeannie moved from
- 00:27:32home to home sometimes with the very
- 00:27:34people who served as her therapists this
- 00:27:37potential conflict of interest raised
- 00:27:39tensions among the many people involved
- 00:27:41in her life and a tug of war erupted
- 00:27:44over the child and Janie's condition
- 00:27:46deteriorated Irene decided that Susan
- 00:27:49Curtis and the other academics had
- 00:27:51become too close to Jeannie a lawsuit
- 00:27:54followed
- 00:27:56I went from being asked to be her
- 00:27:59guardian to one week later being
- 00:28:02prevented from seeing her or phoning her
- 00:28:05and ever since then I've been prevented
- 00:28:07from having any contact at all so
- 00:28:09although I have lots of you know I'm
- 00:28:12still a scientist I'm still interested
- 00:28:14in knowing things about her language now
- 00:28:17and all kinds of interesting things I
- 00:28:20would like to pursue academically
- 00:28:21primarily I would just like now a ward
- 00:28:26of the court
- 00:28:27Jeanne lived in an adult care home
- 00:28:29somewhere in Los Angeles prevented from
- 00:28:32seeing the people who wanted to meant so
- 00:28:34much to her but children like Jeanne
- 00:28:36continue to be discovered even today we
- 00:28:41actually are seeing an increase in the
- 00:28:42number of severely neglected children
- 00:28:44who are in physically and socially
- 00:28:46isolated environments and have a feral
- 00:28:49child like properties
- 00:28:54[Music]
- 00:29:03in the Ukraine we uncovered an
- 00:29:06incredible story nearly is a depressed
- 00:29:09and run down town miles from anywhere
- 00:29:11before the collapse of the Soviet Union
- 00:29:14nearly was a thriving Navy town but now
- 00:29:17half the flats are empty and stray dogs
- 00:29:20roam the streets but in 1999 social
- 00:29:24workers found a situation shocking even
- 00:29:26by the standards of near name
- 00:29:29on the third floor of this block a four
- 00:29:33year old boy called edek was found in a
- 00:29:35deserted flat his alcoholic mother was
- 00:29:39nowhere to be seen
- 00:29:41as the authorities started asking
- 00:29:43questions a horrifying picture began to
- 00:29:46emerge
- 00:29:48while etics younger sister Nadia had
- 00:29:51been cared for by neighbors etic had
- 00:29:53been forced to look elsewhere for love
- 00:29:55and affection without a mother and Eddie
- 00:30:00can turn to the local stray dogs for
- 00:30:03warmth and protection worse he started
- 00:30:08to behave more like a dog than a human
- 00:30:10being
- 00:30:18well nevikov vodka his behavior a
- 00:30:21classic dog's behavior should be can you
- 00:30:23take in the food any of his hands and he
- 00:30:25was scratching in younger kids and
- 00:30:26fighting them two years later
- 00:30:37etic is six and lived in a foster home
- 00:30:39in the nearest city he has made
- 00:30:42remarkable progress but still has many
- 00:30:44problems his behavior has improved and
- 00:30:47he is better with the other children
- 00:30:49but linguistically he is slow doctors
- 00:30:53have told us that while etiquette 6 his
- 00:30:56language is that of a three-year-old
- 00:31:00it seemed that etic was suffering from
- 00:31:03many of the same language problems that
- 00:31:05it affected Victor and Jeanne so badly
- 00:31:07the crucial question
- 00:31:09had he been found in time or would he
- 00:31:12like them never recover to try and gain
- 00:31:20an accurate picture of etics condition
- 00:31:22we took a leading language expert
- 00:31:24Professor James law to the Ukraine to
- 00:31:27evaluate etic there seems to be a lot of
- 00:31:29similarities between edit and other
- 00:31:32feral children one of the interesting
- 00:31:34things is he's been identified by the
- 00:31:36younger than some of the more extreme
- 00:31:38cases so they were they had had a much
- 00:31:41longer extended period of neglect where
- 00:31:44it is neglected being pretty acute but
- 00:31:47for a finite period of time and then
- 00:31:49he's come to this woman very supportive
- 00:31:51foster family and that has to be a good
- 00:31:54thing I want to start to get a better
- 00:31:56picture James spoke with etics foster
- 00:31:58mother looking to do it one symbol to
- 00:31:59play destroys others to look on for you
- 00:32:02so should the suit come poignancy that
- 00:32:03rustiness permissible geek giggle what
- 00:32:06can we at the beginning he was a wild
- 00:32:08child he didn't know anything he didn't
- 00:32:12even know what a plate or spoon was or
- 00:32:15how we should use them and it took the
- 00:32:17monkey making me normally and to get him
- 00:32:20to wear clothes and behave normally
- 00:32:22but agility door look
- 00:32:25picture which is soft some other
- 00:32:27painters in the last six months or so
- 00:32:31the things had been a bit of a
- 00:32:32breakthrough in some way and it's not so
- 00:32:34much to do with his language so that I
- 00:32:36has been improving its to do is the
- 00:32:38ability to relate to other people and
- 00:32:40she like empathize with Eddie's
- 00:32:45background clear in his mind James could
- 00:32:47begin to make a more formal assessment
- 00:32:49of etics strengths and weaknesses as the
- 00:32:55session progressed it was clear that
- 00:32:57edek was reveling in the attention did
- 00:33:00you but just how much of an impact had
- 00:33:03two years of neglect had on his language
- 00:33:05it was time for James to find out take a
- 00:33:14picture vodka and a gun Epictetus
- 00:33:20exclusive she has my tables present was
- 00:33:23liquid at no point could be anything but
- 00:33:26don't get a generic entry point to the
- 00:33:30elephant and then point to the giraffe
- 00:33:34okay it's Nicolas Flamel but does it
- 00:33:36offer point to the cat and then to the
- 00:33:44bird because it's like a horse I don't
- 00:33:46teach belonging smoking oh listen
- 00:33:54linguistically etiquette made good
- 00:33:56progress and moving from the awful
- 00:33:58conditions in a town in which he was
- 00:34:00found but the details of his past were
- 00:34:02still unclear to get a better picture
- 00:34:05James needed to take edek back to merely
- 00:34:08the town where he had been so badly
- 00:34:10treated by humans that dogs have become
- 00:34:12his most faithful companions
- 00:34:17as he walked around the village and it
- 00:34:20could remember little of the details of
- 00:34:22what happened to him but he could
- 00:34:28remember some of the places behind the
- 00:34:30flat where he had run and slept with the
- 00:34:33dogs that had become his family
- 00:34:39as he continued Attucks confidence and
- 00:34:43memories seem to be improving he wanted
- 00:34:46to show Jane the flat where he had lived
- 00:34:48with the daughter as weary emerged at
- 00:34:52the front of the block we were greeted
- 00:34:54by a local delegation somehow the mayor
- 00:34:58and police had been alerted to our
- 00:35:00presence they claimed that the story
- 00:35:04about etic was a lie and demanded we
- 00:35:06stopped filming she knows this woman she
- 00:35:09painted everything that he was told
- 00:35:10about the feminists still too little to
- 00:35:12find a few you shouldn't film animated
- 00:35:14it was clear that something had happened
- 00:35:16here but with the mayor and police is
- 00:35:19vigorous denial it was far from certain
- 00:35:21exactly what however as we were leaving
- 00:35:24the town James was approached by a local
- 00:35:26woman who clearly recognized both etic
- 00:35:29and Nadia despite the police's
- 00:35:31intervention she was determined to tell
- 00:35:33him what she had seen when the children
- 00:35:35lived in the town so many Catania middle
- 00:35:38videos I'm gonna sabaki everybody in the
- 00:35:41community where there was fish there was
- 00:35:43fish on the floor and the dog was
- 00:35:44leaving the conditions was absolutely
- 00:35:46awful
- 00:35:46we have heard stories that the children
- 00:35:49used to play a lot with the dogs with
- 00:35:51animals around the place I'm comfortable
- 00:35:53no no we suffer physical disabilities
- 00:35:57Alicia from the Senate Senate yes with
- 00:35:59the children were good friends of the
- 00:36:01local dogs and home to this stratum 50
- 00:36:04common lived in their flag they were
- 00:36:06always your presence we do of the
- 00:36:08Restless and a devastating event
- 00:36:10but could a young child really live with
- 00:36:13dogs and if they could how would this
- 00:36:16incredible relationship work animal
- 00:36:20expert Steve fryer has worked with dogs
- 00:36:22for over 20 years and studied their very
- 00:36:25special bond with man the relationship
- 00:36:27between domesticated dogs and humans is
- 00:36:29really very special and it's almost a
- 00:36:31primeval urgent feelings that we get
- 00:36:34about salt and I'm sure they have about
- 00:36:36us because they've been around us for so
- 00:36:38many thousands of years and it's been
- 00:36:40passed on to generation after generation
- 00:36:42but how would he explain etics
- 00:36:44incredible story
- 00:36:45I believe food was the issue and the
- 00:36:49dogs were coming into the warmth and
- 00:36:50security of the apartment and getting
- 00:36:52regular food or irregular food so they
- 00:36:55must have seen this young child as a
- 00:36:57provider for the pack and perhaps pushed
- 00:36:59his status up much higher than if he'd
- 00:37:01just been a three-year-old child running
- 00:37:03around with them dogs are very quick to
- 00:37:06learn to seize on an opportunity
- 00:37:08services free food source then it would
- 00:37:11be a very big bonus in their thinking
- 00:37:13capacity at stores this child edit it
- 00:37:17seemed was lucky by offering the dog
- 00:37:20food and shelter he in return received
- 00:37:23the warmth and companionship that
- 00:37:25probably saved his life but after only
- 00:37:27two years with the dogs he had suffered
- 00:37:30serious consequences yah-tchi
- 00:37:33but what of oksana she is now 19 but
- 00:37:36spent almost 6 years living in a kennel
- 00:37:38she was found at eight almost the same
- 00:37:41age as Victor
- 00:37:45would she ever be able to talk or would
- 00:37:48she like Victor and Jeanne before her be
- 00:37:51condemned to a life of silence Oksana is
- 00:38:05now 19 and lives miles from the nearest
- 00:38:08town in a home for the mentally ill when
- 00:38:13she was discovered at 8 she couldn't
- 00:38:14even talk
- 00:38:16according to brain theory Oksana would
- 00:38:18have only three or four years to learn
- 00:38:20language before she lost the chance
- 00:38:23forever in this short time Oksana made
- 00:38:26it she can now talk in simple sentences
- 00:38:29but she is haunted by the memories of
- 00:38:31her terrible past and even now as this
- 00:38:34footage shows he can still revert to her
- 00:38:36old behavior my mum wanted to have a boy
- 00:38:47and she had a gun in his head aside he
- 00:38:49threw me out and put me into the kennels
- 00:38:51when I was small the dose of breastfeed
- 00:38:53in here and later they taught me like
- 00:38:55when I was bigger they brought me what
- 00:38:57people gave them and they shared it with
- 00:38:59me and I wasn't scared of them at all it
- 00:39:01was my home so what does the future hold
- 00:39:04for Oksana so long your no shame the
- 00:39:08only thing we can do is to try and
- 00:39:09correct our behavior so she gets used to
- 00:39:11living in a human society the best way
- 00:39:14to do the young is to try and find a
- 00:39:15proper occupation for us also and it
- 00:39:17will focus our mind in dogs and animals
- 00:39:19would have some sort of useful
- 00:39:20occupation but she will never be
- 00:39:23considered a normal person
- 00:39:27found at 8 Oksana has made amazing
- 00:39:30progress but like Victor and Jeanne
- 00:39:32before her it seems that her development
- 00:39:35has come some way but will now go no
- 00:39:37further
- 00:39:39you
- 00:39:44but what about edit what does his future
- 00:39:46hold the earlier children are identified
- 00:39:51and something can be done about it even
- 00:39:53it is just stabilizing their environment
- 00:39:55the better it is for those children my
- 00:39:59sense is that the fact that he was
- 00:40:02identified when he was four he's going
- 00:40:05to stand him in good stead next
- 00:40:07linguistically etixx future looks
- 00:40:09encouraging
- 00:40:11what you're seeing in edit is a really
- 00:40:15substantial number of words that he is
- 00:40:18now quiet over a relatively short period
- 00:40:21of time we also sing his grammar
- 00:40:23developing and it seems to be developing
- 00:40:27more slowly but of course it always does
- 00:40:28develop more slowly and then it would
- 00:40:30it'll really take off I'm assuming that
- 00:40:33in the next year or so that we would
- 00:40:36have what they called a grammar burst
- 00:40:38when you get a massive number of new
- 00:40:41structures and it looks to me as if a
- 00:40:44deck is doing that on his own without
- 00:40:47instruction and one would take that to
- 00:40:49be a very positive sign but socially
- 00:40:52he's likely to find things more
- 00:40:54difficult in edits case we probably have
- 00:41:00an example of a child who orientates
- 00:41:05towards the dogs because being with them
- 00:41:09was actually to his advantage I think
- 00:41:12it's impossible to underestimate the
- 00:41:14impact that this could have in the long
- 00:41:16term
- 00:41:17if we observe him in these orphanage you
- 00:41:21see he attaches to almost anybody
- 00:41:24indiscriminately and what is likely to
- 00:41:27happen is that he's going to be
- 00:41:29vulnerable socially and I think his
- 00:41:31personal development is what I would be
- 00:41:33most concerned about etic is likely to
- 00:41:36suffer the consequences of his early
- 00:41:38experiences for many years to come but
- 00:41:41it would be wrong to see feral children
- 00:41:43simply as hopeless we should look at
- 00:41:48these children not with pity but with
- 00:41:50awe I mean they're just it's fascinating
- 00:41:54that you can go through something like
- 00:41:56that and that you would still be willing
- 00:41:58after what human beings have done to you
- 00:42:01that you'd still be willing to put your
- 00:42:03hand out and touch a new person faced
- 00:42:06with almost unimaginable situations
- 00:42:09feral children have come up with the
- 00:42:11best strategies they could to survive
- 00:42:13and for the last 200 years science has
- 00:42:17tried to understand the mysteries they
- 00:42:19posed with Victor a car made the first
- 00:42:22steps a process that continued with
- 00:42:25Susan curtis's work with teeny and goes
- 00:42:27on right up to today with evaluations of
- 00:42:30children like oksana and etic we are
- 00:42:35continuing to learn more and more about
- 00:42:37how to help these children more and more
- 00:42:39about how these neglectful experiences
- 00:42:41influence their brain but we were just
- 00:42:44on a very very very cusp of being able
- 00:42:49to be helpful because today we haven't
- 00:42:51done a very good job of that
- 00:42:53we just haven't understood the brain and
- 00:42:54brain development in ways that would
- 00:42:57allow us to be as good as we can be and
- 00:42:59I think that that's changing and as we
- 00:43:01look to the future one thing is certain
- 00:43:03the story of feral children is far from
- 00:43:07over I think there always will be
- 00:43:09stories like this really as long as
- 00:43:12adult you know abandoning children
- 00:43:15leaving
- 00:43:15to their own devices as long as really
- 00:43:17adult camp royalty goes on then there
- 00:43:19will be feral children
- feral children
- Oksana Malaya
- Victor
- Jeannie
- nature vs nurture
- child development
- neglect
- language acquisition
- social skills
- early intervention