"I think I trusted the wrong people.". Up until the late 1960s, it was largely believed by linguists that children could not learn language after puberty. He hated the noise and stress they brought along. She learned some language after puberty. The arrangement also gave the Genie Team more access to her. At 14, she had the physical development of a 7-year-old. When she was 13 years and 7 months old, her abuse was brought to the attention of Los Angeles child welfare authorities in November 1970. Her weight was at the 50th percentile line. He would physically and mentally abuse her if he believed that she had tried. Next week, we will examine what happened to Genie after her rescue and hospitalization. His grandmothers death seemed to unlock a new level of cruelty in Clark. Her father started keeping her in a locked room when she was about 20 months old. Required fields are marked *. "I've been able to block out my past," he said, sipping a brandy and ginger ale in his cramped but neat townhouse. Genie Wiley, the Feral Child. TLCSusan Curtiss, a UCLA linguistics professor, helps Genie the Feral Child to find her voice. Clark Wiley never wanted children. His daughter turned to crack cocaine for solace after Johns marriage with his wife ended. From the moment that Genie was rescued, she was examined. Today, Genie is alive, having just celebrated her 60th birthday in a state-run adult care facility somewhere in Los Angeles. Father take piece wood hit. Her inability to use grammar provides evidence for the critical period hypothesis. Doctors reported that Genie walked awkwardly, spat all the time, and couldnt straighten her limbs all the way. Only once did John's sparkling blue eyes moisten when he reflected on how his parents failed him. Genie, born Susan Wiley, was born in April 1957 to parents Clark and Dorothy Wiley. However, the wrangles between scientists about the best course for her care and development caused inconsistencies in her records, forcing the National Institute of Mental Health to withdraw funding. The Feral Child Nicknamed Genie | Psychology Today At 4 years old, Dorothys mother took John for several months. Genie had so my losses, and here she was losing the one person who had remained in her life ever since I met her,Susan toldABC News. Her assessment revealed that she had the cognitive ability of a one-year-old. In an evaluation of Genie's case by medical researchers, logs in the Special Collection library at UCLA noted that John had been "written off" early in the child abuse investigation.