Abby Frank z Genie z Previous Cases Often

Abby Frank z Genie

z Previous Cases § Often known as feral children § § Romulus and Remus § § Child raised outside of human contact or in the “wild” Founder of Rome and his brother were thought to be raised by wolves Victor § Wild child from France

z Clark Wiley § Born March 29, 1901 § Grown up in foster homes and orphanages § Worked in aircraft assembly lines § Did not want children § “Too noisy” § Abusive and angered easily § Idolized his mother, beyond disturbed after her death

z Irene Wiley § Born around 1920 § Cared for by family friends § Two sets of parents (Mamaw and Dadaw) § Close to her father § Mother was unloving § Forced to move to California for her Father to find work § Married Clark to leave family financial struggles § Suffered from cataracts, detached retina and 90% blind in left eye, 100% blind in her right

“Children are too noisy” z 1 st pregnancy Healthy girl Died at 2. 5 months (death by exposure) 2 nd pregnancy Died of Rh blood poisoning 3 rd pregnancy Healthy son (John) z Paternal grandmother helped raise him 4 th pregnancy Rh blood poisoning- transfusion Genie (Susan Wiley)

z The Start of it All § Clark’s mother was involved in a hit and run accident while taking John to get ice cream § Body was unrecognizable § Driver only received probation (drunk and underage) § Clark became depressed angry forcing him and his family into isolation

z Brought to Light § Mother wanted help § Abusive marriage § Searching for the offices for the blind § Mistakenly walked into social services office

z Making the Headlines § “GIRL, 13, PRISONER SINCE INFANCY, DEPUTIES CHARGE; PARENTS JAILED” § Los Angeles Times § November 17, 1970 § Charles Manson trial § Policies of Gov. Ronald Regan § Acquittal of the My Lai massacre soldiers § Bombing of Hanoi § Beatles were breaking up

z z The Torture § Tied to a potty chair § § Only able to move her hands and feet Making noise § Father would beat her § Little interaction with other family, but Father would bark or growl § Plastic toys § Irene was completely dependent on husband, threatened if she told anyone about Genie

z z The Sentencing § Both Irene and Clark were charged with child abuse § November 20 th, 1970 § First court appearance § Clark committed suicide (age 70)

z Suicide Letters § First one was explaining to the police that John was in the backyard playing and does not know what happened § Second, a letter for John § “Don’t take that shirt back. It’s for my funeral. You know where my blue shirt is. Underwear in hall closet. I love you. Goodbye and be good. –Dad”

z Genie’s Condition § § Thought to be 7 years old § Shocked Genie was a teenager § 59 lbs, 54 inches tall Major health issues § Incontinent § Two sets of teeth § Could not chew or swallow food § Thin hair § Could not focus her eyes § Could not use limbs § Callus’ around butt § https: //www. youtube. com/watc h? v=gv. SMgi 23 F 3 o

z z “She looks above us, as though some object of interest were hovering over the photographer’s shoulder. Her expression gives nothing away. It is composed but not self-conscious, withdrawn but with no trace of sullenness. Her mouth, its full lower lip closed against the serrated curve of the upper in a perfect Cupid’s bow, turns up at the ends of what might be the beginning of a smile, except that she is otherwise so serious, so pensive and watchful. The energy in her face is all in her eyes- without beseeching, they attract. If her face has an adult’s earnestness, her eyes have the straightforward curiosity of a toddler, unburdened by any evident capacity for the prejudice or appraisal. Her innocence is incongruous with the newspaper’s report of the epic abuse she had suffered. ” (pg. 8)

z Moving to Children’s Hospital § Pediatricians, psychologists, linguists petitioned to examine and treat her § Unique opportunity to study brain and speech development § Noam Chomsky § "Blue", "orange", "mother", "stopit", and "go" were a few words she could speak § Shuffled when walking § Urinated, defecated, and spat when stressed § “Most profoundly damaged child they have ever seen. ”

z z The Genie Team § Funded by National Insitutition for Mental Health (NIMH) § James Kent, Susan Curtiss, Jay Shurley and David Rigler § Susan was a linguisitics graduate student at UCLA § James was an expert on child abuse § Jay was an expert on social isolation § David was a psychologist § https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Vj. Zol. HCr C 8 E (5: 30)

z z During her Stay § Performed well on intelligence tests § Learned to play, chew, dress herself, and enjoy music § Expanded vocabulary (2 word sentences) § Sketched pictures § Developed a sense of self § Got angry when another girl was wearing a dress she had worn the previous day

z z Progress § Hoarded books, cups, and anything plastic § Loved to take walks, or outof-hospital field trips § Formed attachments with adult men, especially those with beards § Attached to Jean Butler § “Miss Butler” or “Mibbi”

z Confidence § Easily angered if someone didn’t name the object she was pointing to § Non-verbal communication § Wanted a truck from little boy § “She was not retarded, it was clear as day…her lights were on. ” § Gained confidence- engaged in horseplay, loving when someone would pretend to drop her

z Home outside the Hospital § Began with trips to Jean Butler’s home (teacher at the rehab) § Living at Jean’s home when Measles outbreak spread § Genie started masturbating frequently, was unaware of it being a negative behavior § Sue Omansky was unhappy with placement

z z Not the Right Home § Jean was seen as a good foster home, but did not have the financials. Asked her boyfriend to move in with her to make home appear more stable § Made claims that it was against hospital policy for patients to live in worker’s homes § Genie improved, developing into a normal child

z Rigler’s Home § Told DPSS, his wife Marilyn would take Genie in if there was no other home appropriate § Supposed to be a few month stay- turns into 4 years § Curtiss still observed Genie in this home § Capable of forming short sentences § Would listen to people rather than just hear them § Began eavesdropping on others

z z Terrified of Dogs § Rigler had a golden retriever that was brought over to Butler’s home § Terrified Genie § Made a schedule to have dog outside if Genie was inside § Slowly warmed up to the dog by watching it through the window

z Expectations § By 1972, researchers wanted her to be able to hold a fluid conversation § Still was using only 2 -3 word sentence, often putting them together into one § “Monday Curtiss come” turned into “Munkuh” § Language development seemed to stop § Non-verbal communication continuously increased

z Irene? Mom? § The Genie Team kept Irene up-to-date on the progress § Helped strengthen knowledge about Genie § Genie was taken by the Riglers’ on weekend trips to see Irene § Made both Irene and Genie happy § § Took Genie awhile to warm up to Irene had surgery to remove her cataracts, and underwent psychotherapy (paid for by the state)

z Irene was Upset by the Researchers § Irene was shy to show emotion in front of the researchers § Would pull Genie off into a different room to give her a hug § Noticed how different she was than the researchers § Disliked how some researchers wanted to be her friend, and others did not

z Defunding Genie’s Research § 1973 § § Rigler was making claims Genie was learning new things § § Jean Butler was back making a case against Rigler that Genie was making no progress in the last few years She has been doing those things prior to living with Rigler 1974 § NIMH defunds the research because “the research goals projected will not be realized. ” § There is too little autonomy in the case, cannot be retested

z Living with Irene § Moved in with her mother at the age of 18 because she needed secure attachment for healthy development § Irene could not care for Genie and requested she be moved into a foster home for the developmentally disabled

z Foster Homes § She moved from one foster home to another § Unfair, and harsh treatments in these homes § Curtiss and Rigler would visit genie, and became aware of how she was treated. Tried to help but got no results

z z “Bad Girl” § Genie felt she was moving so often because she had been a bad girl § Curtiss was the only constant attachment to Genie § § Writing her dissertation and book at the same time Irene was outraged by the book § Filed a lawsuit claiming the information was not accurate § Accused researchers of subjecting her to unreasonable tests § Lost the lawsuit

z z Genie Today § Despite the outcome of the lawsuit, Irene was still outraged § Irene hid Genie away from the world, with only Jay Shurley being allowed to see her § Irene put her into a home for mentally retarded adults and is visited by her mother once a month § Happy, communicates with sign language