2. The Story of Genie
Wiley
Genie Wiley was raised in social isolation for most of
her traumatic childhood. Social workers discovered
her at age 13, abused and neglected. It was found that
her parents would often tie her naked to a potty chair
where she could only slightly move her hands and
feet. She had only been allowed to bark or growl and
was usually beaten if she made any noise. In addition,
family members that lived with her rarely spoke or
interacted with her.
3. The Rehabilitation
Process: Cognitive
State and
Development
After being rescued, Genie’s condition was worse than
expected. It was discovered that the 13 year old girl
had the mental ability of a 1 year old, was unable to
chew, couldn’t straighten her limbs and had little to no
voluntary control over urination or defecation. Other
irregular behaviors included her walking differently
compared to other children, often spitting, and being
silent.
However, despite her less than ideal condition, she
experienced some quick developmental progress in
some areas, such as personal hygiene (e.g. using the
toilet, dressing herself). An area of development Genie
was significantly poor in was language.
4. Cognitive
Development:
Language
Genie was able to learn single words quickly. She then
immediately started putting words together in pairs
and moved on to putting up to 3 words together.
Children normally experience a language explosion
after this stage where their ability to put together
words develops further. However, Genie was unable to
make further progress and was thus, unable to use
grammar or meaningful language. The suggested
reason for this is that Genie missed a critical period in
her life for learning language, and in addition she was
abused and had no cognitive stimulation for a
significant amount of time.
However, although Genie could not form coherent
sentences she was still able to communicate with her
limited language and her nonverbal communication
skills were thought to exceptional.
5. The Aftermath and
Personality
Development
After the research regarding Genie was put to a stop,
she was sent back to her birth mother who refused to
take care of her, and then foster homes, where she
experienced repeated abuse. It was reported that it
seemed like Genie was afraid to open her mouth and
was very silent.
Psychiatrist Jay Shurley who visited her when she was
of ages 27 and 29 described her as “largely silent,
depressed, and chronically institutionalized”. From
this, it can be thought that the years of constant abuse
lead to her negative personality development, where
she lacks self confidence and rarely speaks.
6. Citations
Cherry, Kendra. “The Story of ‘Genie," a Child Deprived of Nearly All Human Contact.” Verywell Mind,
www.verywellmind.com/genie-the-story-of-the-wild-child-2795241.
Brogaard, Berit. “The Feral Child Nicknamed Genie.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 10 July 2017,
www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201707/the-feral-child-nicknamed-genie.
