Feral child Genie Wiley

I recently wrote a blog about Oxana Malaya. She was a feral child raised by dogs. I would like to share a chilling story of a feral child named Genie Wiley. Although Genie was not raised by animals she was kept in total isolation until she was 13 years old. Her story is remarkable and unimaginable all in itself.
November 4th 1970 a 13 year old girl was taken by a social worker in the Los Angeles, Arcadia area. Her parents were charged with child abuse. Her mother was weak and legally blind and was later acquitted of the charges. The girl was locked in a small room that contained only a small crib and a potty chair which she was tied to most of her life. She was small and malnourished and could barely walk. She was still wearing diapers when the social worker found her. She was beat by her dad for making noise. Her dad later killed himself awaiting trial for the charges brought against him.
The girl was taken to the Los Angeles Children Center. They named the girl Genie. Her parents never even gave the girl a name. A group of different people were hired by the National Institute for Mental Health from scientist and psychologist to therapist and teachers. The government awarded a grant to help fund research of Genie.
Susan Curtis was a part of Genie’s team. She was a recent grad student from UCLA. She studied language acquisition. When Susan first saw Genie she could barely walk, she spat, sniffed, clawed at herself, and couldn’t talk. She only made quiet little noises. She learned not to vocalize due to being beaten for making noise. James Kent was also apart of the team. He was Genie’s psychologist. He describes how much desire Genie had to explore her new environment. Jay Shirley was Genie’s psychiatrist an expert in social isolation. He describes Genie’s case being the worst he has ever seen.
Genie’s team was puzzled if Genie was mentally deficient from birth or if her isolation caused her brain damage. Jay Shirley did a test of her brain waves. The results were abnormal. Scientists and Psychologists didn’t know which path to take to treat Genie. James Kent her therapist, decided if Genie was allowed to form bonds and personal relationships she could get better. Kent noticed when he would spend time with Genie she would get upset and sad when he had to leave. His hypothesis was as long as she had the capacity to form attachments then she had the capacity to learn. On May 21st 1971 Genie learned the meaning of her first word. She would learn over 100 words by the end of that summer. The question could a teenager still learn to talk puzzled scientist.
Noam Chomsky was a famous cognitive scientist. He made a famous theory about language. “We acquire language. People are not just taught it. We are all born with the principles of language its our genes. This is because of nature not just nurture.”He said. Eric H. Lenneberg had a different theory known as the The Critical Period Hypothesis. He agreed we are born with the principles of language. He believed if language wasn’t applied by the age puberty began it might be too late. Genie’s team wanted to test these theories and see if it was still possible to teach a girl who was in total isolation for 13 years to learn how to talk.
James Kent described Genie’s fascination with balloons. “She loved them. It made her laugh so hard to hold a string and watch the balloon float in the air. Every field trip was like being in magic kingdom to her.” He said. Kent and her teacher Gene butler sat out to be Genie’s foster parents. They felt all the scientist coming and going was exhausting Genie. Gene Butler thought Genie was being experimented with too much. They were denied custody by  the National Institute of Mental Health and the rest of Genie’s medical team. Butler described in the short time she had Genie how she loved to hoard things. Butler would find cans of food and numerous glasses of water beside Genie’s bed. After being denied a new home Genie was sent back to the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.

David Rigler was awarded custody of Genie. He took over James Kent’s role has Genie’s therapist. Genie moved in with Rigler his wife Marilyn Rigler and their children. Marilyn Kent was also a new grad student. She became Genie’s new teacher. She noticed when teaching Genie she would get mad and start tugging and scratching herself. Marilyn taught Genie how to have a fit by stomping her feet and slamming doors rather than hurting herself. She later taught Genie how to turn her anger into words. When Genie would get upset she learned to shake if finger indicating she was mad. Marilyn began to let Genie run her own bathwater. She noticed Genie would make her water cold. This was later perceived by her being left cold in diapers in her childhood. Genie began to start learning more words. She also began to start speaking words. This questioned the fact if Genie was mentally deficient from birth. According to Jay Shirley her psychiatrist that ran the studies of her brain waves she was. Her language teacher Susan Curtis thought differently. “We would give Genie an exam every year. They showed a mental increase by one year every time she would take an exam. That is not something that happens in people who are mentally deficient.” She said. Genie started to learn sign language her team thought that would be the best way for her to communicate right now. She could look at a picture say a tree log for example and say log. She could also look at 5 different pictures and pick which one you said. Example if you had a picture of an apple,dog,shoe,cat,and car and you told her to pick which one was the shoe she could. Genie could say over a 100 different words but never learned how to put them together to form a sentence. Example, she would say  “applesauce store buy”. When she was trying to say “Lets buy some applesauce at the store”.

The Mental Institute of Mental Health was looking for concluded research which they had not gotten. In the fall of 1974 they decided to quit funding Genie’s case. They claimed the team was unable to collect proper data in a scientifically stated way. In 1975 The Rigler family decided to end foster care for Genie. She had lived with them for 4 years. Genie was sent back to her mother who wanted to try to resume care. She later decided it was too difficult. Genie was sent to a foster home. The 1st foster home she was at she was punished for vomiting this was so traumatic for her she ended back at the Children’s Hospital. Genie was so afraid to open her mouth she quickly progressed back to the way she was completely silent.

Genie’s mother placed a lawsuit against Kent,Curtis,Rigler and the Children’s Hospital. Genie’s mother stated the team put science and research before the well being of Genie. They made her learn things beyond her limits of endurance. Genie now lives in an adult home in California. This is the 6th home she has lived in since she left the Riglers.  

When you look at the case of Oxana Malaya and Genie Wileys case Eric Lenneberg’s theory holds true. Oxana was close to 4 years old when she was rescued Genie was 13. I personally believe in Lenneberg’s theory, but who is to say if the Rigler family had kept Genie she might have gotten better. I hope these are theories we never find the answer to because the amount of pain and suffering this girl went through is unimaginable.