Wild Children: true stories of the effects of neglected children and children raised by animals

The term "Wild Child" has a different meaning that most of you are accustomed to. It is not some teen who has gone over the edge partying their life away, having sex and disobeying their parents. It is small children who have been isolated all their lives, or dropped off in the woods to fend for themselves, gravitating to their animal friends for survival. They learned to stay alive but are very different than normal children seen today.

Andrei Tolstyk was discovered at the age of seven in Russia. His mother left when he was just 3 months old and his alcoholic father left shortly after that. The family dog was the only thing he had. The dog had raised him in the family's abandoned house since he was just 3 months old.

Andrei could not talk. But he did pick up alot of his dog's traits. The little boy walked on all four legs, barked, was biting people, and sniffed his food before he even thought about comsuming it. He was not noticed because the isolated town which he lived in did not realise he existed. After officials realised he was not attending school he was found.

After he was discovered he was placed in a shelter with other orphans. When he first arrived his dog like behaviour contuined; sniffing his food, growling, and acting aggressively towards others.

The good thing is two weeks after he was at the orphanage he began to learn. He was walking on two legs, he started to eat with a spoon, he made his own bed and was playing with a toy ball. They were also able to teach him sign language.

Other children at the orphanage were frightened of Andrei, but he did become friends with a little girl. As of 2004 psychologist and doctors were trying to determine whether he can be taught normal human behaviour. If he can, he will be "tranferred" to a normal children's home, if not he will be put in a special boarding school. His parents are being tracked down.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=3582191

Sadly I counted 57 cases of children being raised by animals. Not alot of information is known about these "wild children" but the dates and ages range widely. The oldest date recorded was 250. It does not say whether it is B.C or A.D. The ages range from 2 years of age to 23 years of age when discovered. Most were raised by wolves, but some were raised by dogs, monkeys, bears, and a panther.
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/children.php?tp=0

Even more heart wrenching are children who have been confined and Isolated. Some have been taken care of by their caregivers but not given the human contact that they need to develop. The sad truth is the majority of them are found in the United States.

One case is that of a boy called "Russian Bird Boy". He was rasied by his single mother in an apartment surrounded by bird cages. She took care of him, but never talked to him at all. He was confined in the apartment since he was born. Since his mother never talked to him he chirps like a bird. The happy ending came when he was rescued by a social worker at the age of seven. Think this does not happen today? This happened in 2008.

In Houston Texas a boy was forced to live in an attic. He was 13 years old when he was found, but was starved so much that he looked like a 7 year old. He was only fed a liquid diet his entire life. He was confined in the attic since birth, although his other foster siblings were well taken care of. When he was discovered in 2007 and taken away, he also displayed signs of physical abuse.

Annapurna Sahu was confined to an outhouse for 25 years in India. When she was discovered she was 45 years old. Her own father made sure she was locked up, naked, and "unkempt". They said they did this because she was "mentally ill" although after being rescued she talked some what normal and showed no signs of mental illness. Something else more disturbing is the police were on the father's side stating that she needed to be confined. Law enforement was not going to press charges.

The most famous case of confinement which is one of the most cruel cases is that of a girl names Genie. She was confined for 10 years. During the day she was strapped to a potty chair and at night she was put into a sleeping bag with her arms restrained, and tied into the sleeping bag. She was then placed into a large crib. On the nights that she was forgotten she was left on the potty chair. She was found at age 13 in 1970 and taken away.

She learned very quickly, on the third day out of the care of her awful family, she learned how to use the toliet by herself, and dress herself. She was very excited to learn new words. A team of scientist who helped Genie was called the "Genie Team". They were hopeful that Genie could learn to be normal again. She gained a good vocabulary of words within a few months. Many people often wondered if it was ethical to conduct research on Genie and care for her at the same time.

Passionate about Genie, the "Genie Team" tried to work with her as much as they could day and night. After many years of caring for Genie and researching her, the mother put a stop to the "Genie Team's" "cruel" treatment and the government funding ran out. After living with her mother for awhile, Genie was placed in many foster homes where she was abused once a again. She was then placed in a home for adults who are mentally handicapped. The "Genie Team" still feels a great attachment to Genie. One of the scientist tried to adopt Genie, but authorities would not allow it. There is a movie about Genie called "Wild Child." that I recommend watching.

Although these children have been saved, the neglect they experienced forever changed their development. Next time you think of "Wild Child" I hope that these neglected children come to mind, instead of a rebellious teenager.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050909/asp/nation/story_5216787.asp
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=genie