1 00:00:00,070 --> 00:00:01,933 (Music) 2 00:00:01,933 --> 00:00:04,602 Children are precious to human kind. 3 00:00:05,682 --> 00:00:08,942 We satisfy our innate desire to nurture 4 00:00:08,942 --> 00:00:12,103 and carry on our bloodline through our progeny. 5 00:00:12,683 --> 00:00:17,103 Our children, in turn, rely on us for love and survival. 6 00:00:18,353 --> 00:00:22,143 What happens to a child that's been abandoned by all who are charged 7 00:00:22,143 --> 00:00:26,873 with protecting him and left to fend for himself in the wild. 8 00:00:28,493 --> 00:00:33,485 Or when a girl grows up in solitary confinement in her own family's home 9 00:00:33,905 --> 00:00:36,514 never knowing love or social interaction. 10 00:00:36,514 --> 00:00:38,454 (Piano music) 11 00:00:38,454 --> 00:00:41,323 Since the earliest of times, such stories 12 00:00:41,323 --> 00:00:44,623 were thought to be nothing more than myths. 13 00:00:44,623 --> 00:00:48,941 Could there be any truth to the lore of feral children? 14 00:00:48,941 --> 00:00:55,026 (Ire music) 15 00:00:55,026 --> 00:00:58,702 The word "feral" means wild or undomesticated. 16 00:00:58,702 --> 00:01:02,203 It brings to mind the myth of Romulus, the founder of Rome, 17 00:01:02,203 --> 00:01:06,110 and his twin brother Remus, who were raised by a wolf. 18 00:01:06,110 --> 00:01:10,583 Or that of Tarzan, who lived among animals in the wild. 19 00:01:10,583 --> 00:01:15,414 For centuries, feral children have posed questions that go to the very heart 20 00:01:15,414 --> 00:01:17,822 of what it is to be human. 21 00:01:17,822 --> 00:01:24,486 One of the central questions in all of science that has to do with humans 22 00:01:24,486 --> 00:01:30,896 is are we a product of our genes or are we a product of our experience. 23 00:01:30,896 --> 00:01:33,142 The old nature, nurture issue. 24 00:01:33,142 --> 00:01:38,924 Feral children tap into this because they are the natural experiment 25 00:01:38,924 --> 00:01:41,684 that we're not allowed to carry out. 26 00:01:41,684 --> 00:01:47,923 They are the children who go through extraordinary circumstances at 27 00:01:47,923 --> 00:01:51,342 which no one could naturally create. 28 00:01:52,192 --> 00:01:56,632 But the fascination, I think, actually originates in these sort of primal ideas 29 00:01:56,632 --> 00:02:00,154 about the difference between humans and animals. 30 00:02:01,524 --> 00:02:04,902 Part of being a human is being brought up by humans. 31 00:02:04,902 --> 00:02:09,492 If you're not brought up by humans are you completely human? 32 00:02:09,492 --> 00:02:14,762 And I think in some of these cases that's the issue that we're dealing with. 33 00:02:14,762 --> 00:02:16,965 (bark, bark, bark, bark) 34 00:02:18,105 --> 00:02:19,354 (bark, bark, bark) 35 00:02:19,354 --> 00:02:21,952 One of the most extraordinary cases ever 36 00:02:21,952 --> 00:02:24,796 has recently come to light in the Ukraine. 37 00:02:24,796 --> 00:02:29,055 Oxana Malaya was born in November 1983. 38 00:02:29,055 --> 00:02:32,844 According to medical records, she was a healthy child. 39 00:02:33,634 --> 00:02:37,903 So, how did Oxana become more like a dog than a human being? 40 00:02:40,473 --> 00:02:43,674 Her parents were alcoholics, and one night, 41 00:02:43,674 --> 00:02:47,103 too drunk to care, they left Oxana outside. 42 00:02:49,893 --> 00:02:53,443 Looking for warmth, the three year old crawled into the farm kennel 43 00:02:53,443 --> 00:02:58,032 and curled up with the mongrel dog that probably saved her life. 44 00:02:59,632 --> 00:03:01,212 (Bark, growl) 45 00:03:01,212 --> 00:03:03,703 But while the dog helped her survive, 46 00:03:03,703 --> 00:03:06,944 her time in the kennel also had awful consequences. 47 00:03:06,944 --> 00:03:08,973 (Arf, Arf, growl) 48 00:03:08,973 --> 00:03:13,817 For the next five years, she would spend her life living as a dog. 49 00:03:14,452 --> 00:03:20,610 (Bark, bark bark, growl) 50 00:03:20,610 --> 00:03:22,010 (Howling) 51 00:03:22,015 --> 00:03:24,380 (drum music) 52 00:03:24,380 --> 00:03:27,030 (Speaking Ukrainian) 53 00:03:27,030 --> 00:03:30,131 She was more like a little dog then a human child. 54 00:03:30,131 --> 00:03:33,231 First of all she couldn't speak, or she could hardly speak. 55 00:03:33,231 --> 00:03:35,610 And actually the purpose of speaking, 56 00:03:35,610 --> 00:03:38,241 well she didn't think it was necessary to speak at all. 57 00:03:38,241 --> 00:03:46,171 (Speaking Ukrainian) 58 00:03:46,171 --> 00:03:49,422 Children can copy the habits of the creatures around them 59 00:03:49,422 --> 00:03:53,091 if those creatures are human beings they become like human beings 60 00:03:53,091 --> 00:03:55,780 but, as you know, she was surrounded by dogs. 61 00:03:55,780 --> 00:03:58,272 So she became more like a dog than a human being. 62 00:03:58,272 --> 00:04:08,501 (Water running noise) 63 00:04:08,501 --> 00:04:12,402 But surely the story of Oxana is a rarity, 64 00:04:12,402 --> 00:04:17,171 the product of alcoholic parents in a poor and depressed part of the world. 65 00:04:17,171 --> 00:04:19,881 Incredibly, it would seem not. 66 00:04:20,371 --> 00:04:24,283 Throughout history, children have been abandoned by their parents. 67 00:04:24,283 --> 00:04:27,319 Most die quickly, but some, the survivors, 68 00:04:27,319 --> 00:04:30,782 have resorted to extraordinary means to stay alive. 69 00:04:32,402 --> 00:04:36,339 How they have survived and who they become are questions that have long 70 00:04:36,339 --> 00:04:39,893 fascinated scientists, but understanding these children 71 00:04:39,893 --> 00:04:42,872 has been a slow and difficult process. 72 00:04:44,092 --> 00:04:46,562 A very very good clinicians and researchers 73 00:04:46,562 --> 00:04:50,420 have, with the tools that they had in their day and age, 74 00:04:50,420 --> 00:04:53,841 they've tried to understand what happened but because 75 00:04:53,841 --> 00:05:00,320 it's such a complex set of phenomenon, our understanding has been limited, 76 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,319 and it's incrementally, from generation to generation to generation, 77 00:05:04,319 --> 00:05:06,243 we've had better tools to better 78 00:05:06,243 --> 00:05:08,613 understand what happens to these children. 79 00:05:08,613 --> 00:05:13,502 The first scientifically documented case occurred in 1800 in France. 80 00:05:13,782 --> 00:05:17,870 It would send shock waves throughout civilized Europe. 81 00:05:17,870 --> 00:05:28,802 (music) 82 00:05:28,802 --> 00:05:32,500 The scientific study of feral children began in the most 83 00:05:32,500 --> 00:05:35,063 improbable of circumstances. 84 00:05:37,323 --> 00:05:40,122 On a cloudy afternoon in southwest France, 85 00:05:40,122 --> 00:05:43,211 two hunters were out in the woods looking for deer. 86 00:05:43,211 --> 00:05:46,881 It had been a long day and they hadn't caught anything, 87 00:05:46,881 --> 00:05:49,641 but their luck was about to change. 88 00:05:50,182 --> 00:05:58,621 (ire noises) 89 00:05:58,621 --> 00:06:01,160 (tribal drums) 90 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:05,592 For years, scared villagers had talked of a strange wild child 91 00:06:05,592 --> 00:06:07,161 that lurked in the forest. 92 00:06:07,161 --> 00:06:11,421 (bark, bark, bark, bark, bark) 93 00:06:11,421 --> 00:06:15,332 He had been caught twice before but had always managed to escape. 94 00:06:15,332 --> 00:06:18,672 (bark, bark bark) 95 00:06:18,672 --> 00:06:21,533 This time, however, he wouldn't get away. 96 00:06:21,533 --> 00:06:32,771 (bark, bark, bark) 97 00:06:32,771 --> 00:06:35,042 News of the capture spread fast. 98 00:06:35,042 --> 00:06:39,412 In Paris, one young doctor, Jean Itard, was especially interested. 99 00:06:39,412 --> 00:06:43,691 (music) 100 00:06:43,691 --> 00:06:45,661 The boy was brought to Paris. 101 00:06:45,661 --> 00:06:47,681 Most of the city's medical professionals 102 00:06:47,681 --> 00:06:52,562 quickly decided that the boy, now called Victor, was nothing more than an idiot. 103 00:06:53,162 --> 00:06:55,752 But something about him captivated Itard. 104 00:06:56,052 --> 00:06:59,260 The first thing which is truly remarkable about Itard, 105 00:06:59,260 --> 00:07:04,623 is his extremely scientific approach to reporting what he did. 106 00:07:05,183 --> 00:07:10,355 He gives a wonderful wealth of detail about the child, 107 00:07:10,355 --> 00:07:13,803 what the child did, when he tried certain things. 108 00:07:13,803 --> 00:07:18,572 So he is very clearly linked into 109 00:07:18,572 --> 00:07:21,582 a tradition which we're still involved with now. 110 00:07:21,742 --> 00:07:22,953 (clap, clap) 111 00:07:22,953 --> 00:07:27,092 The modern scientific study of feral children had begun. 112 00:07:27,092 --> 00:07:31,082 For Itard there were two tests of what it meant to be human, 113 00:07:31,082 --> 00:07:34,793 the ability to feel empathy and to use language. 114 00:07:34,793 --> 00:07:39,583 Victor could do neither, and so was, in Itard's eyes scarcely human. 115 00:07:39,583 --> 00:07:44,152 (music) 116 00:07:44,152 --> 00:07:45,522 No, Victor no alet. 117 00:07:45,522 --> 00:07:47,812 At first, he was wild and hard to control. 118 00:07:47,812 --> 00:07:52,113 But slowly, Dr. Itard and his housekeeper, Madame Guérin 119 00:07:52,113 --> 00:07:54,053 started making progress. 120 00:07:55,053 --> 00:07:58,632 Itard's belief in love and kindness seemed to be working. 121 00:07:58,632 --> 00:08:02,992 (music) 122 00:08:02,992 --> 00:08:06,783 But after his years alone in the woods, Itard knew that Victor 123 00:08:06,783 --> 00:08:09,113 still craved for the wild. 124 00:08:10,883 --> 00:08:13,084 Every day they would walk together, 125 00:08:13,084 --> 00:08:16,351 and with every day, Victor became less wild. 126 00:08:16,351 --> 00:08:19,711 (music) 127 00:08:19,711 --> 00:08:22,903 And eventually, Madame Guérin was able to take over 128 00:08:22,903 --> 00:08:25,473 what were, for Victor, some of his happiest times. 129 00:08:25,473 --> 00:08:27,952 (music) 130 00:08:27,952 --> 00:08:30,343 He loved nature, but he also seemed to be showing 131 00:08:30,343 --> 00:08:32,732 real feelings for the people around him. 132 00:08:33,612 --> 00:08:40,583 I think that Jean Itard understood the importance of parental love 133 00:08:40,583 --> 00:08:47,707 and so, he put Victor in a situation where he had in essence a um, 134 00:08:47,707 --> 00:08:52,922 substitute mother, Madame Guérin and she played the role of mother. 135 00:08:52,922 --> 00:08:57,933 She understood the importance of constant care 136 00:08:57,933 --> 00:09:03,683 and understood intuitively how important it is to touch people. 137 00:09:03,683 --> 00:09:06,983 (music) 138 00:09:06,983 --> 00:09:10,672 And in the months that followed, there was even more progress. 139 00:09:12,342 --> 00:09:16,734 Victor enjoyed helping Madame Guérin and had learned to lay the table. 140 00:09:16,734 --> 00:09:21,133 (flute music) 141 00:09:21,133 --> 00:09:25,814 But one lunch time he was laying the table as usual when Madame Guérin 142 00:09:25,814 --> 00:09:27,323 started crying. 143 00:09:29,353 --> 00:09:31,804 Her husband had recently died. 144 00:09:32,274 --> 00:09:35,521 Incredibly, Victor seemed to understand. 145 00:09:38,271 --> 00:09:42,031 Quietly, he simply removed the place setting. 146 00:09:42,046 --> 00:09:48,226 (flute music) 147 00:09:48,231 --> 00:09:51,892 This was the breakthrough Itard had been waiting for. 148 00:09:51,892 --> 00:09:56,883 Victor seemed to be showing real empathy and understanding at last. 149 00:09:56,883 --> 00:10:06,693 (music) 150 00:10:06,693 --> 00:10:11,362 By putting away, um, the place he laid, he was showing that he could empathize 151 00:10:11,362 --> 00:10:12,843 with Madame Guérin. 152 00:10:12,843 --> 00:10:15,121 He realized that he'd made a mistake. 153 00:10:15,121 --> 00:10:19,673 That his mistake had hurt her and I think in by doing that, 154 00:10:19,673 --> 00:10:23,463 he was showing his ability to put himself in a position of another human being, 155 00:10:23,463 --> 00:10:25,964 something which, when he was first brought to Paris, 156 00:10:25,964 --> 00:10:27,471 would have seemed impossible. 157 00:10:28,181 --> 00:10:31,281 Victor had passed the first of Itard's tests. 158 00:10:31,281 --> 00:10:35,432 Nervous but excited, Itard realized that it was now or never. 159 00:10:35,432 --> 00:10:38,853 It was time for Victor to learn to talk. 160 00:10:38,853 --> 00:10:43,571 (music) 161 00:10:43,571 --> 00:10:48,921 But before he could talk, Itard wanted to know that Victor could recognize sounds. 162 00:10:48,921 --> 00:10:52,082 To test this, he blindfolded him and gave him a drum and a bell. 163 00:10:52,082 --> 00:10:55,082 (music) 164 00:10:55,082 --> 00:10:58,854 It was a game Victor loved and understood immediately. 165 00:10:58,854 --> 00:11:02,612 For Itard, this was just the start he had wanted. 166 00:11:02,612 --> 00:11:06,332 Did his mean that Victor would finally be able to master language? 167 00:11:06,332 --> 00:11:11,642 (drum and bell sounds) 168 00:11:12,292 --> 00:11:17,093 A drum is one thing, but language is infinitely more complex. 169 00:11:17,093 --> 00:11:20,632 Before he would be able to talk, Itard knew that Victor would have to 170 00:11:20,632 --> 00:11:22,782 master his vowel sounds, 171 00:11:22,782 --> 00:11:25,021 the building blocks of all language. 172 00:11:25,021 --> 00:11:25,722 O 173 00:11:26,592 --> 00:11:28,873 Victor (something in French) 174 00:11:30,163 --> 00:11:31,020 Victor. 175 00:11:31,490 --> 00:11:34,442 But this time, Victor was at a complete loss. 176 00:11:34,442 --> 00:11:37,224 To him, it was all nothing more than a game. 177 00:11:37,344 --> 00:11:38,344 Ah, 178 00:11:40,494 --> 00:11:44,504 Itard could see his dreams for Victor disappearing before his eyes, 179 00:11:44,504 --> 00:11:48,252 and for the first time ever, lost his temper with the boy. 180 00:11:48,252 --> 00:11:50,533 Victor no (slap sound) 181 00:11:50,533 --> 00:11:53,904 (boy crying) 182 00:11:53,904 --> 00:11:58,112 But it was no good, Itard realized that Victor just couldn't make sense 183 00:11:58,112 --> 00:12:00,892 of the sounds that other children take for granted. 184 00:12:00,892 --> 00:12:03,442 (music) 185 00:12:03,442 --> 00:12:06,903 Without this, how could he ever be expected to talk? 186 00:12:08,643 --> 00:12:11,843 Itard felt that, to be a human being in the fullest possible sense, 187 00:12:11,843 --> 00:12:14,823 you had to be sociable, you had to be language using, 188 00:12:14,823 --> 00:12:19,100 had to be measured, orderly, artificial, and when he realized 189 00:12:19,100 --> 00:12:23,501 that Victor was unable to obtain that, I think he loses interest 190 00:12:23,501 --> 00:12:26,754 and um, really leaves him to his own devices. 191 00:12:26,754 --> 00:12:31,082 For the next 20 years, Victor would live with Madame Guérin. 192 00:12:31,082 --> 00:12:35,294 Happy, but abandoned by the man who had tried so hard to save him. 193 00:12:35,294 --> 00:12:39,901 With Victor, Itard had shown that it possible to bring a feral child 194 00:12:39,901 --> 00:12:45,122 back into society, but with language, the ultimate test, he had failed. 195 00:12:45,122 --> 00:12:49,673 Despite this, interest in feral children continued unabated. 196 00:12:51,223 --> 00:12:56,772 In 1828, a young boy, Casper Hauser, was found lost and alone 197 00:12:56,772 --> 00:12:57,653 in Germany. 198 00:12:58,993 --> 00:13:02,060 His background as much of a mystery as Victor's. 199 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:06,673 And as the century wore on, more reports were appearing from distant corners 200 00:13:06,673 --> 00:13:07,973 of the globe. 201 00:13:07,973 --> 00:13:10,423 From India, in particular, came a series 202 00:13:10,423 --> 00:13:13,423 of stories about children living with wolves. 203 00:13:13,423 --> 00:13:17,992 Distant and unproven, to scientists they seemed little more than myth. 204 00:13:17,992 --> 00:13:21,222 Then, in 1930, a properly documented case 205 00:13:21,222 --> 00:13:24,814 of two girls living with a wolf pack came to light. 206 00:13:24,814 --> 00:13:27,612 American scientists were particularly interested, 207 00:13:27,612 --> 00:13:32,431 but before the girls could get to the United States, both died of fever. 208 00:13:34,841 --> 00:13:37,433 One of the scientists who had been waiting to see them 209 00:13:37,433 --> 00:13:40,563 was primatologist Winthrop Kellogg. 210 00:13:40,563 --> 00:13:43,244 Despite this setback, he was determined to prove 211 00:13:43,244 --> 00:13:47,021 that nurture was the dominant influence in child development. 212 00:13:48,651 --> 00:13:51,994 Kellogg knew that the perfect way to prove his theory was to um, 213 00:13:51,994 --> 00:13:53,861 engineer a feral child . 214 00:13:53,861 --> 00:13:57,294 To bring to get a baby, put them among wolves and to see what happened. 215 00:13:57,294 --> 00:13:59,622 Clearly this is the one experiment he couldn't do, 216 00:13:59,622 --> 00:14:01,321 this was the forbidden experiment. 217 00:14:01,321 --> 00:14:03,834 So what he decided to do was the next best thing, 218 00:14:03,834 --> 00:14:06,724 which was to reverse that forbidden experiment 219 00:14:06,724 --> 00:14:09,642 and to bring an ape into human family. 220 00:14:10,002 --> 00:14:12,422 For the next year, the chimpanzee Gua, 221 00:14:12,422 --> 00:14:15,463 would spend every day with Kellogg's young son Donald. 222 00:14:16,643 --> 00:14:21,314 As Kellogg had predicted, Gua could learn many human characteristics, 223 00:14:21,314 --> 00:14:24,306 but the experiment had unforeseen consequences. 224 00:14:24,696 --> 00:14:28,112 Kellogg really thought of this as an experiment on the chimpanzee. 225 00:14:28,112 --> 00:14:31,494 In actual fact, it became equally an experiment on his son. 226 00:14:31,494 --> 00:14:34,279 Particularly in the way in which his son was picking up, 227 00:14:34,279 --> 00:14:36,179 or not picking up, language. 228 00:14:36,179 --> 00:14:38,123 Rather than learning words, 229 00:14:38,123 --> 00:14:41,573 Donald was learning the barks and yelps of a chimpanzee. 230 00:14:41,573 --> 00:14:44,974 Horrified, Kellogg called off the experiment. 231 00:14:44,974 --> 00:14:49,632 Almost by accident, Kellogg had shown the vulnerability of early childhood. 232 00:14:49,632 --> 00:14:52,163 How the smallest changes in environment 233 00:14:52,163 --> 00:14:55,163 can have unforeseen and long lasting effects. 234 00:14:55,163 --> 00:14:58,792 It was a subject that continued to intrigue scientists. 235 00:14:59,772 --> 00:15:03,212 In the 1960s, American psychologist Harry Harlow 236 00:15:03,212 --> 00:15:05,444 continued where Kellogg had left off. 237 00:15:07,494 --> 00:15:10,664 Harlow's work was really seminal in this entire field 238 00:15:10,664 --> 00:15:14,873 because he showed the crucial importance of the caregiving relationship 239 00:15:14,873 --> 00:15:19,224 between a mother and an infant and how the physical stimulation, 240 00:15:19,224 --> 00:15:23,112 literally the physical contact with the caregiver, 241 00:15:23,112 --> 00:15:26,834 has profound impact on healthy development. 242 00:15:27,724 --> 00:15:31,804 At birth, Harlow took baby monkeys from their mothers. 243 00:15:31,804 --> 00:15:35,732 They were then given a choice between a cold wire monkey with milk 244 00:15:35,732 --> 00:15:38,113 or a soft warm monkey without. 245 00:15:38,763 --> 00:15:43,104 Amazingly, they chose the more comforting figure every time. 246 00:15:44,664 --> 00:15:47,802 And socially, the effects were devastating. 247 00:15:47,802 --> 00:15:51,431 Raised in isolation, without any love or encouragement, 248 00:15:51,431 --> 00:15:54,384 these young monkeys were scared and confused. 249 00:15:54,384 --> 00:15:56,312 Harlow couldn't explain it, 250 00:15:56,312 --> 00:16:00,583 but something about this early isolation had damaged them for life. 251 00:16:03,103 --> 00:16:04,993 But these were monkeys. 252 00:16:04,993 --> 00:16:08,033 Would the same be true for a human child? 253 00:16:08,033 --> 00:16:12,643 It would be another 20 years before scientists had a chance to find out, 254 00:16:12,643 --> 00:16:17,683 and when they did, it would be in the busiest, most urban setting imaginable. 255 00:16:18,493 --> 00:16:20,951 Officials in the Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia 256 00:16:20,951 --> 00:16:23,482 have taken custody of a 13-year-old girl, 257 00:16:23,482 --> 00:16:26,422 and they say was kept in such isolation by her parents 258 00:16:26,422 --> 00:16:28,558 that she never even learned to talk. 259 00:16:28,558 --> 00:16:30,663 The girl still wore diapers and was uttering 260 00:16:30,663 --> 00:16:34,752 infantile noises when a social worker discovered the case two weeks ago. 261 00:16:34,752 --> 00:16:38,403 The authorities are hoping she still may have a normal learning capacity. 262 00:16:39,633 --> 00:16:41,887 Among the first to see the child was 263 00:16:41,887 --> 00:16:44,814 Temple City detective Sergeant Frank Linley. 264 00:16:44,814 --> 00:16:52,294 (Ire music) 265 00:16:52,294 --> 00:16:56,692 I already knew that the child was 13 1/2 years old 266 00:16:56,892 --> 00:17:00,495 and I took one look at her and she wasn't much bigger 267 00:17:00,495 --> 00:17:06,371 than my daughter Beverly, who had just turned seven about three months earlier, 268 00:17:06,371 --> 00:17:10,562 and I really had a hard time conceiving of the idea 269 00:17:10,562 --> 00:17:12,892 that the child was the age that she was. 270 00:17:13,932 --> 00:17:17,757 The child obviously had been severely mistreated. 271 00:17:17,757 --> 00:17:20,190 After she was still in diapers, couldn't walk, 272 00:17:20,190 --> 00:17:22,952 she had no verbal skills at all at that point. 273 00:17:22,952 --> 00:17:26,732 (Ire music) 274 00:17:26,732 --> 00:17:31,893 The last time I was on this street was probably 30 years ago. 275 00:17:33,983 --> 00:17:35,253 Yup, there it is. 276 00:17:36,173 --> 00:17:39,519 Hasn't changed much, the backyard looks the same, 277 00:17:39,519 --> 00:17:41,772 it's all weeds and dead grass. 278 00:17:43,872 --> 00:17:46,694 Looks the same as it did in 1970. 279 00:17:48,084 --> 00:17:50,443 The house belonged to Clark Wiley. 280 00:17:50,443 --> 00:17:52,952 A loner, Clark had turned his back on the world 281 00:17:52,952 --> 00:17:55,823 after his mother had been killed in a hit and run accident. 282 00:17:56,913 --> 00:18:01,463 After the accident, things in the Wiley house would never be the same again. 283 00:18:01,463 --> 00:18:05,201 (ire piano music) 284 00:18:05,201 --> 00:18:07,743 The house was completely dark, 285 00:18:07,743 --> 00:18:10,041 all the blinds were drawn, 286 00:18:10,041 --> 00:18:11,781 and there were no toys, 287 00:18:11,781 --> 00:18:14,813 no clothes, nothing that would ever indicate 288 00:18:14,813 --> 00:18:18,402 to you that a child of any age lived there. 289 00:18:18,402 --> 00:18:22,422 (Ire music) 290 00:18:22,433 --> 00:18:27,032 The child's bedroom was back in this corner. 291 00:18:27,912 --> 00:18:29,393 That was the bedroom. 292 00:18:29,813 --> 00:18:33,932 The windows were covered to about three inches from the top, 293 00:18:33,932 --> 00:18:37,374 which were the only natural light that had ever come in there 294 00:18:37,374 --> 00:18:39,783 in all the time the child was in the bedroom. 295 00:18:40,613 --> 00:18:43,163 Entire furnishings in the bedroom consisted of a cage 296 00:18:43,163 --> 00:18:48,140 with a uh, pull-down chicken-wire lid 297 00:18:48,140 --> 00:18:52,805 and some type of piece of wire securing it when they closed it down. 298 00:18:52,805 --> 00:18:57,934 There was a potty chair with some kind of homemade strapping device. 299 00:18:57,934 --> 00:19:03,293 For 13 years Genie had spent her nights locked in bed. 300 00:19:03,293 --> 00:19:05,965 Her days, strapped to a potty chair. 301 00:19:05,965 --> 00:19:09,052 During that time, Clark had ordered his son John 302 00:19:09,052 --> 00:19:12,033 and wife Irene never to talk to her. 303 00:19:13,123 --> 00:19:18,722 In her darkened room, she had lead a life of near-total isolation. 304 00:19:20,782 --> 00:19:24,402 Even close neighbors were completely unaware of her presence. 305 00:19:25,522 --> 00:19:27,902 We came home from work and the police was here and 306 00:19:27,902 --> 00:19:29,354 they came to question us. 307 00:19:29,354 --> 00:19:32,353 That's when we found out you know, what happened 308 00:19:32,353 --> 00:19:34,503 and, you know, that they had a little girl. 309 00:19:35,823 --> 00:19:38,213 Nobody know, nobody knew before. 310 00:19:38,493 --> 00:19:41,002 And when we found out what happened, 311 00:19:41,002 --> 00:19:42,003 how she was treated. 312 00:19:42,003 --> 00:19:46,993 I mean, everybody was shocked and just unbelievable. 313 00:19:47,713 --> 00:19:51,915 For their whole marriage, Clark had imposed his will on Irene, 314 00:19:51,915 --> 00:19:55,431 and blind with cataracts, she had been too scared to resist. 315 00:19:55,431 --> 00:19:57,464 But one day, something broke. 316 00:19:57,994 --> 00:20:01,903 While Clark was out buying groceries, she seized her chance and fled. 317 00:20:01,903 --> 00:20:05,958 It was the first glimpse the world would have of Clark and Irene's dark secret. 318 00:20:06,528 --> 00:20:09,733 I met Clark and Irene at Temple City Sheriffs station, 319 00:20:09,733 --> 00:20:12,353 they were both under arrest at the time. 320 00:20:12,353 --> 00:20:17,082 When we interviewed Irene, she would make no mention of the family whatsoever, 321 00:20:17,082 --> 00:20:18,413 particularly the children. 322 00:20:18,913 --> 00:20:22,494 I attempted along with my partner to interview Clark. 323 00:20:22,494 --> 00:20:24,824 he refused to talk to us, he wouldn't say a word. 324 00:20:24,824 --> 00:20:28,454 He never even acknowledged that he understood what we were talking about. 325 00:20:28,454 --> 00:20:32,543 Unable to face the truth, Clark took matters into his own hands. 326 00:20:35,843 --> 00:20:39,414 This morning, the authorities reported that 70-year-old Clark Wiley 327 00:20:39,414 --> 00:20:41,985 shot and killed himself, just before he was 328 00:20:41,985 --> 00:20:45,795 to go to court and be arraigned for child abuse. 329 00:20:45,795 --> 00:20:49,242 After 13 years, Genie was at last free. 330 00:20:49,242 --> 00:20:53,532 And for scientists, she was just the case they had been waiting for. 331 00:20:55,782 --> 00:21:00,434 For 13 years, Genie had lived a life of complete isolation. 332 00:21:01,274 --> 00:21:05,514 Raised in a city bedroom, Genie was as much a feral child 333 00:21:05,514 --> 00:21:07,793 as if she had been brought up by wolves. 334 00:21:08,673 --> 00:21:11,952 At 13, she was the size of a six-year-old. 335 00:21:11,952 --> 00:21:15,277 Worst of all, she had never been taught to speak. 336 00:21:15,277 --> 00:21:18,681 The question now, could she ever learn? 337 00:21:18,681 --> 00:21:22,153 (Ire music) 338 00:21:22,153 --> 00:21:26,045 Genie's case was so scientifically important that the government 339 00:21:26,045 --> 00:21:30,484 funded a team of scientists to help answer the many questions she posed. 340 00:21:32,224 --> 00:21:34,142 (It's so good to see you.) 341 00:21:34,142 --> 00:21:37,474 Two of the scientists who would become especially important to Genie 342 00:21:37,474 --> 00:21:42,072 were child psychologist Kent and linguist Susan Curtis. 343 00:21:42,072 --> 00:21:44,563 (It's so wonderful to see you, thank god.) 344 00:21:44,983 --> 00:21:48,653 Neither had ever encountered a case as extreme as Genie's. 345 00:21:48,653 --> 00:21:54,723 (ire music) 346 00:21:54,723 --> 00:21:59,703 We looked at her as a as a newborn in a way, even though we know she hadn't. 347 00:21:59,703 --> 00:22:03,904 She came with 13 years of memories and experiences, not all of them wonderful, 348 00:22:03,904 --> 00:22:09,113 most of them not, I think, and so we felt we needed to start to expose her 349 00:22:09,113 --> 00:22:13,075 to what the world was going to be like for her outside the hospital bed. 350 00:22:13,655 --> 00:22:16,592 To Genie, everything was a new experience. 351 00:22:18,442 --> 00:22:21,123 We did what you would do with, with your own kids, 352 00:22:21,123 --> 00:22:23,625 if you were introducing them to the world. 353 00:22:23,625 --> 00:22:26,002 You'd take them out and hold them up and show them, 354 00:22:26,002 --> 00:22:29,451 and sort of judge from how they reacted to whether this was to much or not enough 355 00:22:29,451 --> 00:22:31,564 and you could move on and do the next thing. 356 00:22:31,564 --> 00:22:35,082 Genie was making amazing progress, as the experts looked on 357 00:22:35,082 --> 00:22:38,080 they realized that she might be the answer to the question that 358 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,683 had troubled science for so long. 359 00:22:41,673 --> 00:22:46,784 So, we seized this wonderful opportunity that she provided us 360 00:22:46,784 --> 00:22:53,493 in as loving a way as we could, but using it to finally 361 00:22:53,493 --> 00:22:58,372 get our chance to address head on specific hypotheses 362 00:22:58,372 --> 00:23:02,052 and notions about human language and the human mind. 363 00:23:02,052 --> 00:23:03,572 (piano music) 364 00:23:03,572 --> 00:23:06,043 These hypotheses were based on the latest ideas 365 00:23:06,043 --> 00:23:09,043 about how children's brains developed. 366 00:23:09,043 --> 00:23:11,923 According to the theory, young children could 367 00:23:11,923 --> 00:23:16,162 only learn certain things at certain times, called critical periods. 368 00:23:16,462 --> 00:23:20,505 Language was one of these critical periods, and according to the theory, 369 00:23:20,505 --> 00:23:24,132 Genie, who was now a teenager, had missed her chance forever. 370 00:23:24,132 --> 00:23:26,673 (Piano music) 371 00:23:26,673 --> 00:23:30,442 But incredibly, Genie seemed to be proving the theory wrong. 372 00:23:30,442 --> 00:23:33,442 As this footage shows, Genie was blossoming. 373 00:23:33,442 --> 00:23:36,052 Not only was she delighted by the world around her, 374 00:23:36,052 --> 00:23:38,393 but she was learning the words for the new things 375 00:23:38,393 --> 00:23:39,543 she was seeing. 376 00:23:39,543 --> 00:23:43,824 [piano music] 377 00:23:43,824 --> 00:23:47,325 She was extremely interested in everything around her, 378 00:23:47,325 --> 00:23:50,035 she wanted to know the word for everything around her. 379 00:23:50,035 --> 00:23:53,414 She wanted to engage people all around her. 380 00:23:53,414 --> 00:23:56,324 She was not mentally deficient, her lights were on, 381 00:23:56,324 --> 00:23:59,484 and everyone who worked with her, from teachers, 382 00:23:59,484 --> 00:24:04,684 to therapists, to me, knew that she was not retarded. 383 00:24:04,684 --> 00:24:06,113 It was clear as day. 384 00:24:06,113 --> 00:24:08,174 [piano music] 385 00:24:08,174 --> 00:24:11,923 And as she began to learn more and more words, hundreds of words, 386 00:24:11,923 --> 00:24:17,182 much more rapidly than I ever imagined and swinging them together, 387 00:24:17,182 --> 00:24:20,211 I began to think maybe I will be wrong, 388 00:24:20,211 --> 00:24:26,403 maybe she will be the one that will prove that this hypothesis is incorrect. 389 00:24:26,403 --> 00:24:30,321 But Genie could not escape the effects of her past so easily. 390 00:24:30,321 --> 00:24:33,402 She was still haunted by her traumatic upbringing. 391 00:24:33,402 --> 00:24:36,641 Trapped by the memories of the awful fate she had suffered. 392 00:24:36,851 --> 00:24:40,264 And linguistically, she had stopped making progress. 393 00:24:40,264 --> 00:24:43,552 She learned tons of words, she has an enormous vocabulary. 394 00:24:43,802 --> 00:24:47,715 But language is not words, language is grammar, 395 00:24:47,995 --> 00:24:50,302 language is sentences. 396 00:24:50,842 --> 00:24:52,202 How do you make a sentence? 397 00:24:52,202 --> 00:24:53,686 What can be a sentence? 398 00:24:53,686 --> 00:24:54,954 What is a sentence? 399 00:24:54,954 --> 00:24:57,783 How do you automatically know something's a sentence? 400 00:24:58,413 --> 00:25:03,733 So, it wasn't because she was cognitively deficient in other respects, 401 00:25:03,733 --> 00:25:10,633 it was because she was cognitively deficient in this island of human mind, 402 00:25:10,633 --> 00:25:13,234 the mental faculty that we call grammar. 403 00:25:13,234 --> 00:25:17,132 At the time Genie was found, brain science was in its infancy. 404 00:25:17,132 --> 00:25:20,414 But today, we have a much clearer picture of what actually happens 405 00:25:20,414 --> 00:25:23,214 in cases of extreme neglect like Genie's. 406 00:25:24,744 --> 00:25:29,494 In Genie's brain, the left part of her, her brain, the, her cortex 407 00:25:29,494 --> 00:25:33,572 that, that has those neural systems responsible for speech and language, 408 00:25:33,572 --> 00:25:35,412 because she never heard any words 409 00:25:35,412 --> 00:25:38,403 and because she was never taught, 410 00:25:38,403 --> 00:25:41,403 spoken to very often, they didn't get stimulated. 411 00:25:41,403 --> 00:25:46,843 And because they weren't stimulated, they got smaller and less functional 412 00:25:46,843 --> 00:25:52,564 and disconnected and ultimately that part of the brain literally physically changes. 413 00:25:52,574 --> 00:25:57,343 Today, with modern imaging technology, we can actually see what happens 414 00:25:57,343 --> 00:26:01,952 in the brains of feral children, and the effects are shocking. 415 00:26:02,412 --> 00:26:06,734 Without normal stimulation, their brains are smaller and malformed. 416 00:26:06,734 --> 00:26:10,582 And the earlier this neglect begins, and the longer it carries on, 417 00:26:10,582 --> 00:26:12,542 the worse the damage will be. 418 00:26:13,042 --> 00:26:14,923 Starved of stimulation, 419 00:26:14,923 --> 00:26:18,753 Genie's brain had simply not developed the capacity for language. 420 00:26:18,753 --> 00:26:22,583 And now that she was a teenager, she would never be able to learn. 421 00:26:22,816 --> 00:26:27,053 Despite this, Genie continued to be a close part of everyone's life. 422 00:26:27,053 --> 00:26:29,462 But there was more trouble ahead. 423 00:26:32,002 --> 00:26:34,572 Children have to belong to somebody when they grow up, 424 00:26:34,572 --> 00:26:38,013 and she was still a child, and she needed a family to belong to. 425 00:26:38,013 --> 00:26:41,455 So that's what we would have liked, a family that she could belong to. 426 00:26:42,205 --> 00:26:45,395 Um, and that's not what happened unfortunately. 427 00:26:45,985 --> 00:26:51,635 What did happen is about the worst outcome, I think we would have envisioned. 428 00:26:52,224 --> 00:26:55,842 On her 18th birthday, Genie moved back with her mother Irene 429 00:26:55,842 --> 00:26:59,381 into the house in which she had been so terribly abused. 430 00:26:59,381 --> 00:27:03,583 But after only a few weeks, it was clear that Irene couldn't cope. 431 00:27:03,583 --> 00:27:08,105 From here, Genie was moved into state care with terrible consequences. 432 00:27:08,105 --> 00:27:09,965 [piano music] 433 00:27:09,965 --> 00:27:12,923 I was a student, and people wouldn't listen to me, 434 00:27:12,923 --> 00:27:15,995 people who needed to intervene did not listen to me, 435 00:27:15,995 --> 00:27:18,995 and so I spent lots and lots of time 436 00:27:18,995 --> 00:27:23,242 on the phone pleading with people to intervene and save this person, 437 00:27:23,242 --> 00:27:28,803 who had had the worst experience of deprivation and isolation 438 00:27:28,803 --> 00:27:31,003 in all recorded medical history. 439 00:27:31,383 --> 00:27:33,554 Genie moved from home to home, 440 00:27:33,554 --> 00:27:36,724 sometimes with the very people who served as her therapists. 441 00:27:36,954 --> 00:27:38,995 This potential conflict of interest 442 00:27:38,995 --> 00:27:42,595 raised tensions among the many people involved in her life, 443 00:27:42,595 --> 00:27:45,562 and a tug of war erupted over the child. 444 00:27:45,562 --> 00:27:50,003 As Genie's condition deteriorated, Irene decided that Susan Curtis 445 00:27:50,003 --> 00:27:53,252 and the other academics had become too close to Genie. 446 00:27:53,882 --> 00:27:55,462 A lawsuit followed. 447 00:27:58,072 --> 00:28:00,634 I went from being asked to be her guardian 448 00:28:00,634 --> 00:28:05,183 to one week later being prevented from seeing her or phoning her. 449 00:28:05,183 --> 00:28:09,165 And ever since then, I've been prevented from having any contact at all. 450 00:28:09,165 --> 00:28:13,384 So, although I have lots of, you know that I'm still a scientist, 451 00:28:13,384 --> 00:28:16,084 I'm still interested in knowing things 452 00:28:16,084 --> 00:28:19,970 about her language now and all kinds of interesting things 453 00:28:19,970 --> 00:28:22,220 I would like to pursue academically. 454 00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:25,254 Primarily, I would just like to see her. 455 00:28:25,614 --> 00:28:31,434 Now a ward of the court, Genie lives in an adult care home somewhere in Los Angeles. 456 00:28:31,434 --> 00:28:35,422 Prevented from seeing the people who once meant so much to her. 457 00:28:35,672 --> 00:28:39,834 But children like Genie continue to be discovered even today. 458 00:28:40,404 --> 00:28:44,224 We actually are seeing an increase in the number of severely neglected children 459 00:28:44,224 --> 00:28:47,564 who are in physically and socially isolated environments 460 00:28:47,564 --> 00:28:51,733 and, and have feral child-like properties. 461 00:28:51,733 --> 00:28:53,604 [piano music] 462 00:28:53,604 --> 00:28:55,984 [roar] 463 00:28:56,304 --> 00:29:03,902 [music] 464 00:29:03,902 --> 00:29:08,033 In the Ukraine, we uncovered an incredible story. 465 00:29:08,033 --> 00:29:12,512 Mirny is a depressed and rundown town miles from anywhere. 466 00:29:12,512 --> 00:29:17,154 Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mirny was a thriving Navy town. 467 00:29:17,154 --> 00:29:21,813 But now, half the flats are empty, and stray dogs roam the streets. 468 00:29:21,813 --> 00:29:25,806 But in 1999, social workers found a situation 469 00:29:25,806 --> 00:29:28,863 shocking even by the standards of Mirny. 470 00:29:30,213 --> 00:29:34,664 On the third floor of this block, a four-year-old boy called Edic 471 00:29:34,664 --> 00:29:37,245 was found in a deserted flat. 472 00:29:37,995 --> 00:29:40,914 His alcoholic mother was nowhere to be seen. 473 00:29:42,004 --> 00:29:45,194 As the authorities started asking questions, 474 00:29:45,194 --> 00:29:48,834 a horrifying picture began to emerge. 475 00:29:48,834 --> 00:29:52,893 While Edic's younger sister Nadia had been cared for by neighbors, 476 00:29:52,893 --> 00:29:56,513 Edic had been forced to look elsewhere for love and affection. 477 00:29:58,833 --> 00:30:03,134 Without a mother to care for him, Edic had turned to the local stray dogs 478 00:30:03,134 --> 00:30:05,203 for warmth and protection. 479 00:30:06,803 --> 00:30:11,425 Worse, he started to behave more like a dog than a human being. 480 00:30:11,433 --> 00:30:18,753 [music] 481 00:30:18,753 --> 00:30:20,442 [girl speaking Ukrainian] 482 00:30:20,442 --> 00:30:23,174 His behavior was exactly like a dog's behavior should be. 483 00:30:23,174 --> 00:30:25,263 He was taking the food only with his hands, 484 00:30:25,263 --> 00:30:27,894 and he was scratching the younger kids and biting them. 485 00:30:27,894 --> 00:30:36,443 [dog growling with kids talking in background] 486 00:30:36,443 --> 00:30:41,593 Two years later, Edic is six and lives in a foster home in the nearest city. 487 00:30:41,593 --> 00:30:45,522 He has made remarkable progress but still has many problems. 488 00:30:45,522 --> 00:30:49,294 His behavior has improved, and he is better with the other children. 489 00:30:49,294 --> 00:30:51,843 But linguistically, he is slow. 490 00:30:53,093 --> 00:30:58,775 Doctors have told us while Edic is six, his language is that of a three-year-old. 491 00:31:01,175 --> 00:31:05,495 It seemed that Edic was suffering from many of the same language problems 492 00:31:05,495 --> 00:31:08,513 that had affected Victor and Genie so badly. 493 00:31:08,513 --> 00:31:10,083 The crucial question: 494 00:31:10,083 --> 00:31:15,034 Had he been found in time, or would he, like them, never recover? 495 00:31:18,804 --> 00:31:22,465 To try and gain an accurate picture of Edic's condition, 496 00:31:22,465 --> 00:31:25,923 we took a leading language expert, professor James Law, 497 00:31:25,923 --> 00:31:28,923 to the Ukraine to evaluate Edic. 498 00:31:28,923 --> 00:31:33,514 There seemed to be a lot of similarities between Edic and other feral children. 499 00:31:33,934 --> 00:31:37,252 One of the interesting things is he's being identified rather younger 500 00:31:37,252 --> 00:31:39,012 than some of the more extreme cases. 501 00:31:39,012 --> 00:31:40,144 So, they were... 502 00:31:40,144 --> 00:31:43,883 They had a, had a much longer, extended period of neglect, 503 00:31:43,883 --> 00:31:48,761 whereas his neglect has been pretty acute, but, but for a finite period of time, 504 00:31:48,761 --> 00:31:52,184 and then he's come to this warm and very supportive foster family, 505 00:31:52,184 --> 00:31:54,554 and that has to be a good thing. 506 00:31:54,554 --> 00:31:55,573 I'd like to start. 507 00:31:55,573 --> 00:31:58,743 To get a better picture, James spoke with Edic's foster mother. 508 00:31:58,743 --> 00:32:06,835 [Speaking Ukrainian] 509 00:32:06,835 --> 00:32:09,454 At the beginning, he was a wild child. 510 00:32:09,454 --> 00:32:14,674 He didn't know anything, he didn't even know what a plate or a spoon was, 511 00:32:14,674 --> 00:32:16,783 or how he should use them, 512 00:32:16,783 --> 00:32:21,203 and it took months to make him to eat normally and to get him to wear clothes 513 00:32:21,203 --> 00:32:23,055 and behave normally. 514 00:32:26,025 --> 00:32:31,286 Picture that his foster mother paints is in the last six months or so, 515 00:32:31,286 --> 00:32:34,004 there seems to be a bit of a breakthrough in some way, 516 00:32:34,004 --> 00:32:36,334 and it's not so much to do with his language, 517 00:32:36,334 --> 00:32:37,963 although that has been improving, 518 00:32:37,963 --> 00:32:42,657 it's to do with his ability to relate to other people and to like empathize. 519 00:32:44,687 --> 00:32:47,114 With Edic's background clear in his mind, 520 00:32:47,114 --> 00:32:51,704 James could begin to make a more formal assessment 521 00:32:51,884 --> 00:32:54,884 of Edic's strengths and weaknesses. 522 00:32:55,114 --> 00:32:59,654 As the session progressed, it was clear that Edic was reveling in the attention. 523 00:33:01,084 --> 00:33:05,720 But just how much of an impact had two years of neglect had on his language? 524 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,032 It was time for James to find out. 525 00:33:08,032 --> 00:33:11,067 [dogs barking] 526 00:33:11,067 --> 00:33:14,794 [boy speaking in Ukrainian] 527 00:33:14,794 --> 00:33:20,836 Listen, listen, sh sh sh sh. 528 00:33:20,836 --> 00:33:23,415 Edic, (Ukrainian) 529 00:33:23,415 --> 00:33:26,625 Just quickly, point to the elephant first. 530 00:33:26,625 --> 00:33:30,086 Sh sh, listen very carefully. 531 00:33:30,086 --> 00:33:34,773 Point to the elephant first and then point to the giraffe. 532 00:33:34,773 --> 00:33:38,405 (Speaking Ukrainian) 533 00:33:38,405 --> 00:33:40,626 Good boy, well done. 534 00:33:42,716 --> 00:33:45,224 Point to the cat and then to the bird. 535 00:33:45,224 --> 00:33:48,486 (Speaking Ukrainian) 536 00:33:48,486 --> 00:33:49,955 Okay. 537 00:33:50,825 --> 00:33:51,565 Nocking. 538 00:33:51,565 --> 00:33:53,334 Nocking, oh. 539 00:33:53,334 --> 00:33:54,363 (laughter) 540 00:33:54,363 --> 00:33:57,533 Linguistically, Edic had made good progress since moving 541 00:33:57,533 --> 00:34:01,094 from the awful conditions in the town in which he was found. 542 00:34:01,094 --> 00:34:04,265 But the details of his past were still unclear. 543 00:34:04,265 --> 00:34:08,644 To get a better picture, James needed to take Edic back to Myrni, 544 00:34:08,644 --> 00:34:11,615 the town where he had been so badly treated by humans 545 00:34:11,615 --> 00:34:14,425 that dogs had become his most faithful companions. 546 00:34:14,425 --> 00:34:18,845 [music] 547 00:34:18,845 --> 00:34:21,275 As he walked around the village, Edic could remember 548 00:34:21,275 --> 00:34:23,846 little of the details of what happened to him. 549 00:34:23,856 --> 00:34:27,656 [music] 550 00:34:27,656 --> 00:34:31,306 But he could remember some of the places behind the flats 551 00:34:31,306 --> 00:34:35,325 where he had run and slept with the dogs that had become his family. 552 00:34:35,325 --> 00:34:40,795 [music] 553 00:34:40,795 --> 00:34:45,307 As he continued, Edic's confidence and memory seemed to be improving. 554 00:34:45,937 --> 00:34:50,034 He wanted to show James the flat where he had lived with the dogs. 555 00:34:51,394 --> 00:34:54,145 But as we reemerged at the front of the block, 556 00:34:54,145 --> 00:34:57,145 we were greeted by a local delegation. 557 00:34:57,145 --> 00:35:01,216 Somehow, the mayor and police had been alerted to our presence. 558 00:35:02,926 --> 00:35:07,876 They claimed that the story about Edic was a lie and demanded we stop filming. 559 00:35:07,876 --> 00:35:10,596 She knows this woman, she saying that everything that she 560 00:35:10,596 --> 00:35:12,646 was told about this family is totally wrong 561 00:35:12,646 --> 00:35:14,936 and that's why you shouldn't film anything here. 562 00:35:14,936 --> 00:35:17,545 It was clear that something had happened here, 563 00:35:17,545 --> 00:35:19,954 but with the mayor and police's vigorous denials, 564 00:35:19,954 --> 00:35:22,954 it was far from certain exactly what. 565 00:35:22,954 --> 00:35:27,115 However, as we were leaving the town, James was approached by a local woman 566 00:35:27,115 --> 00:35:29,975 who clearly recognized both Edic and Nadia. 567 00:35:30,285 --> 00:35:33,625 Despite the police's intervention, she was determined to tell him 568 00:35:33,625 --> 00:35:36,706 what she had seen when the children lived in the town. 569 00:35:36,896 --> 00:35:41,675 It was horrible conditions, she never come in her flat. 570 00:35:41,675 --> 00:35:45,145 There was fish, there was fish on the floor, and the dogs living there 571 00:35:45,145 --> 00:35:47,284 and just the conditions was absolutely awful. 572 00:35:47,284 --> 00:35:50,894 We have heard stories that the children used to play a lot with the dogs 573 00:35:50,894 --> 00:35:52,533 with the animals around the flats. 574 00:35:52,533 --> 00:35:57,705 (Speaking Ukrainian) 575 00:35:57,705 --> 00:36:02,083 She's saying that...she's saying that yes, the children were good friends 576 00:36:02,083 --> 00:36:05,925 of the local dogs and home, and stray dogs use to come live in their flat. 577 00:36:05,925 --> 00:36:08,776 There were always not less then three dogs in their flat 578 00:36:08,776 --> 00:36:10,814 and Edic was sleeping with them. 579 00:36:11,144 --> 00:36:14,795 But could a young child really live with dogs? 580 00:36:14,795 --> 00:36:19,315 And if they could, how would this incredible relationship work? 581 00:36:19,665 --> 00:36:23,895 Animal expert Steve Fryer has worked with dogs for over 20 years 582 00:36:23,895 --> 00:36:26,646 and studied their very special bond with man. 583 00:36:26,946 --> 00:36:30,894 The relationship between domesticated dogs and humans is really very special 584 00:36:30,894 --> 00:36:35,246 and it's almost a primeval, urgent feelings that we get about dogs, 585 00:36:35,246 --> 00:36:38,234 and I'm sure they have about us because they've been around us 586 00:36:38,234 --> 00:36:40,084 for so many thousands of years and 587 00:36:40,084 --> 00:36:42,834 it's been passed on through generation after generation. 588 00:36:42,834 --> 00:36:46,316 But how would he explain Edic's incredible story? 589 00:36:46,826 --> 00:36:51,166 I believe food was the issue and the dogs were coming into the warmth and security 590 00:36:51,166 --> 00:36:54,756 of the apartment and getting regular food or irregular food. 591 00:36:54,756 --> 00:36:58,276 So, they must have seen this young child as a provider for the pack 592 00:36:58,276 --> 00:37:01,777 and perhaps pushed his status up much higher than if he had just been 593 00:37:01,777 --> 00:37:04,685 a three-year-old child running around with them. 594 00:37:05,435 --> 00:37:08,406 Dogs are very quick to learn to seize on an opportunity. 595 00:37:08,406 --> 00:37:12,336 So, if there's free food source, then it would be a very big bonus 596 00:37:12,336 --> 00:37:16,294 in their thinking capacity for, for, towards this child. 597 00:37:17,264 --> 00:37:19,326 Edic, it seems, was lucky. 598 00:37:19,326 --> 00:37:22,696 By offering the dogs food and shelter, he in return 599 00:37:22,696 --> 00:37:27,186 received the warmth and and companionship that probably saved his life. 600 00:37:27,186 --> 00:37:32,004 But after only two years with the dogs, he had suffered serious consequences. 601 00:37:33,294 --> 00:37:34,895 But what of Oxana? 602 00:37:34,895 --> 00:37:39,455 She is now 19, but spent almost six years living in a kennel. 603 00:37:39,455 --> 00:37:42,936 She was found at eight, almost the same age as Victor. 604 00:37:45,896 --> 00:37:50,385 Would she ever be able to talk, or would she, like Victor and 605 00:37:50,385 --> 00:37:54,975 Genie before her, be condemned to a life of silence? 606 00:37:54,975 --> 00:38:04,916 [music] 607 00:38:04,916 --> 00:38:09,146 Oxana is now 19 and lives miles from the nearest town 608 00:38:09,146 --> 00:38:11,845 in a home for the mentally ill. 609 00:38:12,445 --> 00:38:16,255 When she was discovered at eight, she couldn't even talk. 610 00:38:16,255 --> 00:38:20,115 According to brain theory, Oxana would have only three or four years 611 00:38:20,115 --> 00:38:24,376 to learn language before she lost the chance forever. 612 00:38:24,376 --> 00:38:26,837 In this short time, Oxana made it. 613 00:38:27,237 --> 00:38:30,487 She can now talk in simple sentences, but she is haunted 614 00:38:30,487 --> 00:38:33,715 by the memories of her terrible past, and even now, 615 00:38:33,715 --> 00:38:37,937 as this footage shows, she can still revert to her old behavior. 616 00:38:37,937 --> 00:38:45,196 [barking, howling] 617 00:38:45,196 --> 00:38:48,636 My mom wanted to have a boy and she had a girl instead, 618 00:38:48,636 --> 00:38:51,506 and so she just threw me out and put me into the kennels. 619 00:38:51,506 --> 00:38:53,804 When I was small, the dogs would breast feed me, 620 00:38:53,804 --> 00:38:56,736 and later they brought me, like when I was bigger, 621 00:38:56,736 --> 00:38:59,854 they brought me what people gave them, and they shared it with me. 622 00:38:59,854 --> 00:39:02,324 I wasn't scared of them at all, it was my home. 623 00:39:03,416 --> 00:39:07,814 So what does the future hold for Oxana? 624 00:39:07,814 --> 00:39:10,887 The only thing we can do is to try and correct her behavior 625 00:39:10,887 --> 00:39:13,695 so she gets use to living in a human society. 626 00:39:13,695 --> 00:39:17,265 The best way to do it is to try and find a proper occupation for her, 627 00:39:17,265 --> 00:39:22,104 and it will focus her mind from dogs and animals to some sort of useful occupation, 628 00:39:22,104 --> 00:39:25,136 but she will never be considered a normal person. 629 00:39:25,136 --> 00:39:27,507 [piano music] 630 00:39:27,507 --> 00:39:31,236 Found at eight, Oxana has made amazing progress, 631 00:39:31,236 --> 00:39:34,837 but like Victor and Genie before her, it seems that her development 632 00:39:34,837 --> 00:39:38,086 has come some way but will now go no further. 633 00:39:38,086 --> 00:39:44,483 [piano music] 634 00:39:44,483 --> 00:39:47,775 But what about Edic, what does his future hold? 635 00:39:48,775 --> 00:39:52,907 The earlier children are identified and something can be done about it, 636 00:39:52,907 --> 00:39:55,717 even if it's just stabilizing their environment, 637 00:39:55,717 --> 00:39:58,717 the better it is for those children. 638 00:39:58,717 --> 00:40:04,404 My sense is that the fact that he was identified when he was four 639 00:40:04,404 --> 00:40:06,946 is going to stand him in good state. 640 00:40:06,946 --> 00:40:11,055 Linguistically, Edic's future looks encouraging. 641 00:40:11,975 --> 00:40:17,366 And what you're seeing in Edic is a, a really substantial number of 642 00:40:17,366 --> 00:40:22,206 words that he's now acquired over a, relatively short period of time. 643 00:40:22,206 --> 00:40:26,636 We're also, seeing his grammar developing and it seems to be 644 00:40:26,636 --> 00:40:29,074 developing more slowly, but of course it always does 645 00:40:29,074 --> 00:40:32,277 develop more slowly, and then it would, it'll really take off. 646 00:40:32,277 --> 00:40:36,167 I'm assuming that in the next year or so that we, we would have a, 647 00:40:36,167 --> 00:40:39,797 what they call a grammar burst, where you get a massive number 648 00:40:39,797 --> 00:40:46,545 of new structures and it looks to me as if Edic is doing that on his own 649 00:40:46,545 --> 00:40:48,555 without instruction. 650 00:40:48,555 --> 00:40:51,056 And one would take that to be a very positive sign. 651 00:40:51,666 --> 00:40:55,405 But socially, he's likely to find things more difficult. 652 00:40:56,805 --> 00:41:04,214 In Edic's case, we probably have an example of a child who 653 00:41:04,214 --> 00:41:09,605 orientates towards the dogs because being with them was actually 654 00:41:09,605 --> 00:41:11,485 to his advantage. 655 00:41:11,975 --> 00:41:15,804 I think it's impossible to underestimate the impact that this could 656 00:41:15,804 --> 00:41:17,856 have in the long term. 657 00:41:17,856 --> 00:41:20,775 Do we observe him in the orphanage? 658 00:41:20,775 --> 00:41:26,145 You see, he attaches to almost anybody indiscriminately, 659 00:41:26,145 --> 00:41:28,675 and what is likely to happen is that 660 00:41:28,675 --> 00:41:32,186 he's gonna be vulnerable socially and I think his personal development 661 00:41:32,186 --> 00:41:35,135 is what I would be most concerned about. 662 00:41:35,135 --> 00:41:37,604 Edic is likely to suffer the consequences 663 00:41:37,604 --> 00:41:41,414 of his early experiences for many years to come. 664 00:41:41,414 --> 00:41:45,166 But it would be wrong to see feral children simply as hopeless. 665 00:41:45,166 --> 00:41:47,315 [piano music] 666 00:41:47,315 --> 00:41:51,716 We should look at these children not with pity but with awe. 667 00:41:51,716 --> 00:41:55,026 I mean, they're just, it's fascinating that 668 00:41:55,026 --> 00:41:56,906 you can go through something like that 669 00:41:56,906 --> 00:42:01,042 and that you would still be willing, after what human beings have done to you, 670 00:42:01,042 --> 00:42:06,105 that you'd still be willing to put your hand out and touch a new person. 671 00:42:06,105 --> 00:42:10,866 Faced with almost unimaginable situations, feral children have come up 672 00:42:10,866 --> 00:42:14,066 with the best strategies they could to survive. 673 00:42:14,066 --> 00:42:16,444 And for the last 200 years, 674 00:42:16,444 --> 00:42:19,904 science has tried to understand the mysteries they pose. 675 00:42:19,904 --> 00:42:23,196 With Victor, Itard made the first steps, 676 00:42:23,196 --> 00:42:27,026 a process that continued with Susan Curtis's work with Genie, 677 00:42:27,026 --> 00:42:29,576 and goes on right up to today 678 00:42:29,576 --> 00:42:33,366 with evaluations of children like Oxana and Edic. 679 00:42:34,206 --> 00:42:38,305 We are continuing to learn more and more about how to help these children 680 00:42:38,305 --> 00:42:40,116 and more and more about how these 681 00:42:40,116 --> 00:42:43,506 neglectful experiences influence their brain, 682 00:42:43,506 --> 00:42:50,165 but we're just on the very very very cusp of being able to be helpful. 683 00:42:50,165 --> 00:42:52,796 Because today, we haven't done a very good job of that, 684 00:42:52,796 --> 00:42:56,125 we just haven't understood the brain and brain development in ways 685 00:42:56,125 --> 00:42:58,804 that would allow us to be as good as we can be, 686 00:42:58,804 --> 00:43:00,446 and I think that that's changing. 687 00:43:00,446 --> 00:43:04,546 And as we look to the future, one thing is certain. 688 00:43:04,546 --> 00:43:08,595 The story of feral children is far from over. 689 00:43:08,595 --> 00:43:11,134 I think there always will be stories like this. 690 00:43:11,134 --> 00:43:14,796 Really, as long as adults you know, abandoning children, 691 00:43:14,796 --> 00:43:16,576 leaving them to their own devices. 692 00:43:16,576 --> 00:43:22,044 As long as, really, adult cruelty goes on, then there will be feral children.