janet

I stayed up until 2am last night reading accounts of feral children and extreme cases of neglect where children were isolated for long periods of time. Fascinating and heartbreaking.

I remember watching a Nova documentary in a linguistics class I took once that told the story of 'Genie' (not her real name), a child who suffered the most extreme neglect , abuse and isolation at the hands of her abusive father and blind, passive mother. She was kept in a small room, chained to her potty chair for 10 years. Her parents didn't speak to her and her father beat her when she made noise. When she was found by authorities, she was 13, only 54" tall and weighed 59 pounds.
A team of therapists and doctors studied her and tried to rehabilitate her. Could a 13 year old who had lacked any type of socialization or exposure to language be assimilated successfully back into society? Could she be taught to speak, read and write? I recommend reading her story.

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In other news, be and Lelio are going to the Cat & Fiddle tomorrow. Look forward to seeing some of you there!