feral children

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Link: Tarzan of the Cows.

You're welcome.

I don't know if these children specifically had autism, but according to one documentary (the linked one) many of these children might have had physical/mental disabilities. The ones that didn't, like the girl Oksana who lived with dogs, were the victims of abuse. The most fascinating of the stories was of John who was 'raised' by small monkeys, however scientists doubt that he could have been raised in the way he says because the monkeys didn't show any affection. People assumed that the reason John didn't communicate well or learn was because of his wild upbringing, however a brain scan proved that he had sustained a serious head injury, possibly before he ran away from his abusive step mother, which resulted in damage to the language and speech area of the brain. Autism or not, I still find things like this interesting.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

Have you guys studied reactive attachment disorder at all? Feral children are the extreme version of RAD. It's actually quite interesting--usually it comes from neglect, abuse, that kind of thing; not as extreme as feral children, but the same basic thing. Kids with RAD tend to have language, but they are usually delayed in most areas due to lack of opportunity to learn, malnutrition, or both. It's something you hope will never happen, but all the same it does give you a good picture of how a child's environment affects their learning and development.

We know RAD isn't the same thing as autism because it happens to whole groups of children, like children growing up neglected in an understaffed orphanage--that is, RAD is environmental, mainly (inborn personality probably affects how the disorder presents itself). While some feral children might be abandoned autistics or children with other disabilities, there's no real reason to assume they are, other than the way autistics tend to be more vulnerable to abandonment in the first place. Most of them probably would have become NT had they been raised in a good environment.

Don't forget the "Girl in the window" from a few years ago

http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece

Neglected to the point where she didn't even learn how to walk let alone communicate.

The way some of you talk about autism, it sounds like a virus or something.

I have researched this sort of thing some and I do know about puppies. Although not human they are mammals. If, for some reason the mother dog is not available to them and a human takes over the nuturing role before the puppies are old enough to be weaned the caregiver has to wipe the bellies with a damp cloth or the puppies won't thrive. It's not just a matter of feeding them milk replacement.

It's similar with human children and this process of one on one socialization and bonding with another human is crucial to activate certain genes in the child. When a child lacks this opportunity to bond they are delayed developmentally without any exceptions. It happens to these feral children, to neglected children and to infants and toddlers warehoused in poorly staffed and funded orphanages. One possible outcome is RAD. Some feral children never develop language so it seems worse than RAD.

The thing about feral children is, they seem to suggest that if there were a catastrophe on earth and something happened to the majority of adults leaving youngsters to survive on their own, the human species would devolve into much more primitive and wild.

As for the stories about feral children being raised by wolves - I don't believe those for a second! A wolf being a wild animal would run from a human child, not stick around to raise it and a pack of wolves would probably devour it.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all that long ago that children who were blind, deaf, or had other physical disabilities or disorders were often dropped off at institutions where they were kept in cages like animals. I think that started to change around 100 years ago...give or take a few years Before instititutions, I doubt there were resources for caring for children with problems whether they were physical or emotional. That's probably why so many were just abandoned. There were few if any places who would "care" for them. Maybe the parents secrety hoped some kind person would find them & take them in, or that they would die a quick death. I had 2 relatives that ended up in some pretty harsh places. One was an uncle born in the last century with a mental disorder & he was given shock treatments, & other barbaric forms of dealing with his mental illness. From what I've heard from my dad, he hated his "treatments." He's since passed on, so at least he now is at peace. Psychology still has a long way to go in treating people with compassion. My uncle never lived long enough to experience compassion. The other was my adopted mom's mother who was abandoned (along with her siblings) by her dad when he remarried. The step-mother didn't want the kids. Amazing that they were just thrown out like so much unwanted trash. My grandmother was the oldest, about 12 years old. She was then forced to care for her younger siblings. It was a pretty hefty burden for a young girl to handle...she became abusive when she had her own kids. Her story happened in the late 1800s. So children I am guessing were seen as property & even commodities (if they were lucky), or an unwanted burden in the case of those who were abandoned or abused. If only things would change!

The bad thing about the human race is that we (as a species) are quite cruel to one another. This is especially true when it comes to the poor handling of children & meeting their basic needs. How many reports I have seen or heard even recently involved child abuse...some more severe than others. I am still amazed that any child can survive (if they live) some of the cruel things that can happen. I've also seen the documentary on Oksana a couple of times & am always blown away at how unkind her parents were. She still shows signs of the abuse by relapsing into acting like a dog. Dogs were the only creatures who offered her any kind of positive experience. How sad for her to grow up without the love of a parent. Yeah, they were too dysfunctional as alcoholics to care, but still...I can't imagine throwing away a child like that. They had no conscience, no guilt? We they too lazy to even take her to an orphanage? Just sickening to think that these things still go on during a time where we are supposed to be even more compassionate than ever before. The body of a 12 year old boy was just discovered in the Mid-West maybe a month ago. He was abused until the day he died, & all he longed for was his family to love him. I cried for him. To die so young & not know any love or kindness...it breaks my heart when I hear these stories.