Genie: the feral child Alexxis Wilson The Beginning Name: Susan Wiley - PowerPoint Presentation

Genie: the feral child Alexxis Wilson

The Beginning Name: Susan Wiley Born: April 18th, 1957 (almost 61 years old) City: Arcadia, CaliforniaParents: Irene Wiley and Clark WileySiblings: Robert Clark Wiley, Dorothy Irene Wiley and John Gray Wiley

Family Background Clark Wiley: flight mechanic in WWII → aviation after Married Irene forcing her to stay at home and beat her routinely Disliked childrenIrene Wiley: grew up farming in Oklahoma, left because of the Dust BowlInvolved in a car accident causing sight problems Became dependent on Clark

Family Background Dorothy: 1st child→ born 5 years after marriage Died of pneumonia at 10 weeks Robert: 2nd child→ born 1 year laterDiagnosed with Rh blood poisoning- died at 2 days old John: 3rd child→ 3 years later Healthy; slow in development→ neglected

Early Life Genie→ born 5 years after John Signs of Rh poisoning, had blood transfusion Noticed congenital hip dislocation→ splint 4.5 months-11 monthsSplint caused her to start walking laterFather thought mentally impaired→ cut off interaction with her Came down with pneumonia→ from 50% to 11% in weight percentile Malnutrition Pediatrician stated Genie was “mentally retarded” Kernicterus

Clark’s Breakdown Genie→ 20 months old Clarks mother died from a hit and run accident Blames sonDecided family needed protection from the worldGenie needed “additional protection” being “retarded” → entirely hid her Quit his job and moved family into his late mother's house Shrine mother’s bedroom and car

Childhood Clark secluded Genie Tied her to a toilet chair for 13 hours a day → function as straight jacket Could only move extremities and wore only a diaperAt night, tied into a sleeping bag and put into cribClark beat her when she made noise Also growled/barked at her, grew nails to scratch her Masturbate in socially inappropriate context Possible sexual assault → father or brother

Childhood Cont. Meal time No solid food Father or brother spoon fed herAte too slow, rubbed face in foodOnly time Irene could be with Genie Fed 3 times a day but often refused to feed her Not allowed to speak around Genie No tv or radio

Childhood Cont. Forced John to abuse Genie Tried to run away Irene was threatened to be killed if she contacted anyoneClark promised if Genie had survived 12 years of age, Irene could seek helpClark was convinced she would be dead

The Accident October 1970 Genie was 13.5 years old Irene left ClarkTook Genie to parents houseNovember 4th Decided to apply for disability Accidently walked into Social Services office

The Rescue Social worker knew something was wrong Guessed Genie to be 6 or 7 → reality 13.5 years old Assumed autismImmediately called policeArrested Genie’s parents Court order to take her to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles

Question One Upon finding out Genie’s age, social services called the police and had Genie dropped off at a Children’s hospital. Ethically, how could the finding of Genie have been handled differently?

Los Angeles Children’s Hospital David Rigler: chief psychologist and therapist Howard Hansen: head of psychiatry and early expert on child abuse Rigler and Hansen took direct control of Genie’s careJames Kent, expert in child abuse, examined Genie firstLead to investigation on parents

The Media November 17th, 1970 News reached major media outlets Clark refused to speak to public or mediaNov 20th → Clark committed suicide by gunshotLeft note for son, “Be a good boy, I love you” Left note for police, “The world will never understand” Charges were dropped on Irene after Clark suicide Told court she was unable to protect her children

Examining Genie James Kent examined her Most severe child abuse case he would encounter Pale and malnourished 4’6’’ and weighed 59 pounds2 full sets of teeth Distended (swelling) abdomen Thick callus and bruising on buttox Coxa valga in her hips Undersized rib cage Eyes could not focus further than 10 feet

Characteristics Expressionless “Bunny walk” Hesitant and unsteadyExtremely incompetent → mentality of 13 month old Could not Stand up straight Straighten her limbs Chew or swallow whole food https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvSMgi23F3o

Characteristics Cont. Interested in objects more than people Afraid of cats and dogs Curious about unfamiliar soundsAntisocialNo sense of personal property No physical touching

Communication and Personality Non-verbal signals- the way she looked at someone Genie would push objects to make noise Angry → attack herself, never anyone elseWould not stop unless diverted attention elsewhereUnderstood her name, some other names and 15-20 words “Stop it” and “no more”

The Hospital Stay Examined by Jay Shurley→ Professor at University of Oklahoma Found not autistic “Mentally retarded” from birthHigh levels of emotional disturbanceSusan Curtiss Genie was born average intelligence Abuse and isolation left her functionally disabled James Kent Small responses from puppets Genie became fond of puppets Became most consistent person to Genie

The Hospital Stay Cont. Growing and putting on weight Collected objects Hoarded objectsColorful and plasticBeach pails brought her out of tantrums Became more responsive Nonverbal and verbal cues Paid attention when people talked Sociable with familiar people Started showing emotions

Potential Case Study December 1970 Rigler obtained a grant for $21,500 from the National Institution of Mental Health to start studies January 1971→ Genie was developmentally at age 1-3 years oldFebruary 1971→ 2-3 years old and some aspects 12-13 years oldStarted to mimic speech sounds April 1971→ Genie attacked another girl; first time she took out anger on another person May 1971→ Mental age of 4 year and 9 months old Earthquake hit Los Angeles and Genie sought comfort in cooks she befriended

Brain Testing January 1971 Neuro Linguistic testing proved right-handedness Hearing in both ears, language and non-language 100%Prefered non-language in left ear ruling out reverse in dominance for languageNo linguistic input during childhood Language function lateralized to the right hemisphere EEG picked up more activity ove right hemisphere Later found that high involvement from right anterior cerebral cortex → right hemisphere acquired language By May 1971 mental age was between 5 and 8 years old

Foster Homes Stayed with Jean Butler Later told people Genie would make her famous During the stay, overcame fear of dogs, more talkative and took anger out on objectsStarted refusing visits with the “Genie Team”Decided Butler was not a good guardian Moved in with Rigler Intended to stay 3 months, stayed 4 years Met with her mother weekly Rigler became primary therapist and his wife would become her teacher John Miner (attorney) was appointed Genie’s legal guardian

Observations: Behavior Redirected anger to verbal expressions Started paying attention to people talking to her Also respondedStarted nursery schoolPublic school for mentally retarded Doing simple chores Ironing, sewing and meal preparation Mood significantly improved and seemed content with life

Observation: Language By 1975 Genie could name most objects Struggled with grammar Spoke in short and choppy phrasesDeleted sounds in words whenever she couldCalled her the great abbreviator Not able to fully learn a language Recalled past events “Father hit big stick” “father is angry” Did not understand death, asked where father was

Non-Verbal Communication Invented her own gestures Acted out events she could not express in talking Communicate using picturesDraw them or find them in magazinesResearchers became aware of Genie’s fear of dogs Researchers pushed Genie to learn sign language

Loss of Funding Initial grant + one year extension Asked for 3 year extension→ Denied Fundings cut completelyResearch team did not address their concerns Research team decided Genie would move back in with her mother Irene had corrective eye surgery Moved back into the house she was abused in, Genie was 18

Continuing Observations Despite funding being cut, Rigler continued to assess Genie Curtiss continued to regularly test and observe Genie Irene became distressed with Genie’s behaviors: lack of self-controlIrene contacted California Department of Health 1975 New placement Lead to Genie being severely beaten for puking Removed from this home in 1977 Placed in another foster home but quickly ended months later Genie wondered why she kept moving, thought it was her fault Caused more trauma

Lawsuit Curtiss finished dissertation → Genie: A Psycholinguistic Study of a Modern-Day “Wild Child” 1978 Irene was offended by the title and contents Sued Children’s Hospital, therapists involved, supervisorsSued researchers Curtiss, Rigler, Kent and Hansen Stated violation of patient confidentiality, invading Genie’s privacy and overworking her Genie’s mother stated Jean Butler was behind the lawsuit According to Russ Rymer, lawsuit was settled in 1984 “The case never came to trial. It was dismissed by the Supreme Court of California with prejudice, meaning it can never again be re-filed.”

After Turning 18 Miner failed to update guardianship Irene took over without consulting anyone Butler continued to criticize and spread rumors about Genie’s condition until deathGenie moved between 4 foster homes and institutions - negative impact Left her uncommunicative and depressed Saw Irene once a month Moved to a supportive foster home/adult home Allowed visitors Genie seemed happy and more verbal

Currently Genie lives in an undisclosed location Ward of the state of California Communicates fairly well with sign languageOnly spoke a few wordsIrene died of natural causes in 1982 Had gone blind again John only visited once prior to dying in 2011 Gave interview stating he never read anything about Genie and how she was

Discussion Jay Shurley thought Genie was “mentally retarded” from birth but Susan Curtiss thought she was functionally disabled because of abuse and isolation. What do you think, and why? What do you think would have been the hardest to teach Genie?Human interaction OR Language→ Grammar Why? Ethically, what could have been done differently with Genie’s case?