Genie is a girl who has been isolated by her parents from birth to age thirteen. Genie’s father assumed she was a retarded baby, and he isolated her from the world. She was tied to a potty chair for more than ten years. Even though Genie was thirteen years old, she had not yet been exposed to the real world. Early isolation had a huge impact on Genie’s early stages of life. She was still wearing diapers and couldn’t converse with others. She was not an average thirteen year old. The isolation kept Genie from learning, and at thirteen years old, she had the mentality of a three year old. Genie had a bunny-like walk and inhuman characteristics. Genie’s ability to speak was scarce, and she was mostly silent with the exception of a few sounds. …show more content…
David Wrigler was her principal investigator and foster father. Researchers believed that Genie was retarded due to her long isolation; however, her brain showed improvements. Genie’s learning improved each year after being rescued. After three years, she hit a wall and was unable to progress much further. A lawsuit was filed on the team by Genie’s mother, and ‘The Genie’ case was closed. She was fostered by the Wrigler family for four years, but when the case was filed, she was rehomed back into a children's hospital.
The researchers were trying to help out Genie’s situation the best they could, but the researchers also wanted to learn from her. The team was so caught up in learning and advancing their research on her that they didn’t attend to her needs. The researchers did not ethnically act correctly; they did everything they could, but not what was best for Genie’s wellbeing.
After Genie was rehomed from the children's hospital, she was fostered by another family. Genie was improving so much on her speech characteristics until she moved in with this foster family. This new foster family punished Genie for vomiting. This experience was so traumatizing for her that she was afraid to open her mouth again. Genie began to regress and eventually went back to being silent. Since this case opened up, she lived with more than six different foster families. Genie now lives in an adult foster home in Southern
I. Theory After reading the voice of Inclusion “From My Friend Ro Vargo” what an intriguing and captivating story. About a young girl who is severely impaired, name Ro Vargo who is diagnosed with (rett syndrome). Defined as “a progressive neurodevelopmental genetic disorder that affects females usually during infancy that is characterized by cognitive and psychomotor deterioration, slowed head and brain growth, stereotyped hand movements, seizures, and mental retardation”www.merriamwebster.com. Ro did not want people to talk about what she had (rett syndrome). To her she’s just an ordinary person. We see through Ro’s eyes as she takes us on her life’s journey. From the beginning of kindergarten through the end of college. Ro parents reveals
On November 4th, 1970, Los Angeles child welfare authorities became aware of the abuse, neglect, and social isolation of Susan “Genie” Wiley. It was when social workers noticed the odd behavior of Susan after her and her mother, who was seeking financial support, walked into welfare offices. Upon further investigation, they discovered that Susan was thirteen years old and had been severely maltreated by her father her entire life. Susan’s father came to the conclusion early in her life that she was socially unfit, or “retarded’ and was ashamed of her. He hid her in the back bedroom of the Wiley home and kept her from neighbors, family, and friends. This left Susan unable to develop language skills learned from
When Genie was found, she was thirteen years old, and was presumed to have been in her home since she was around the age of two. She had either been strapped to a child’s toilet, or tied to her bed with complete immobilization during this time, also never being shown any speech—never truly giving her a language to speak. It was discovered, that Genie’s father seemed to be the reason she was locked away (Newton). Although Genie was born through a C-Section, she had little to no problems at birth. She was born a normal healthy little girl. Her medical records all showed that she was growing at a normal rate. Doctor reports are stating that around about a year, Genie was alert and able to sit by herself, but was falling behind in her weight category. Researchers later discovered this may have been the beginning of the malnutrition. There was a problem that was later discovered, requiring Genie to wear a brace on her leg, slowing down the time she learned to walk. Psychologists believe it was this instance that led Genie’s father to believe she was mentally challenged. It is also shown that because of these thoughts, Genie’s father felt it was necessary to hide Genie from the public—whether because of embarrassment or protection. Most researchers will speculate that Genie’s father was a...
The aim of research is to accurately gather knowledge about something unknown; reflecting the outcomes in a non-judgmental manner. However, the ethical standards we strictly follow today didn’t exist in the pre-colonization era. The expedition by European countries in order to establish and expand their empire overseas has led to one of the most significant research area around the world, i.e. Colonialism or Imperialism. In the book “Decolonizing Methodologies” by Linda Tuhiwai Smith; she strictly questions about the legitimacy of the research done on the indigenous people by the colonizers of West with an emphasis on how the current descendants of the colonized people views ‘research’ as something degrading and disrespectful to them. Smith
Lucy Grealy tells a story about not fitting in, unbearable pain that takes up residence in one’s head as loneliness and confusion, questioning what things mean, being scared and lost in your family, enduring intense physical pain, and most importantly, figuring out who you are. Lucy had no idea she might die, even though the survival rate for Ewing’s sarcoma was only five percent. She does not present her parents as overly afraid for her life, either. Her autobiography is not a story about the fear of death, but about such courage and anguish. Lucy shows how she falls under the spell of her disability, allowing it to control her life and dictate her future to a greater extent than it would otherwise. Having a disability means that sometimes you have to say "I'm disabled, therefore I can't...", but as Lucy finally learns, it also means sometimes saying "I'm disabled, but I can!” Through her traumatic tale of misfortune, she has sifted out truths about beauty, the public, and self-concept.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time exhibits real life situations experienced by an autistic, 15-year-old boy, from his own panorama. Christopher’s use of first person perspective ensures that his view on events are explained with accurate, detailed description, enhancing the responders understanding of how the mind of one with Asperger’s syndrome functions. This concept is elaborated on in Christopher’s struggle to become independent as the responder is able to grasp Christopher’s defensive mechanisms to dealing with stressful situations. Christopher narration “so I groaned to make the time pass quicker and not think” during a fit where his tendency to shut down and curl himself into a ball is essentially revealed substantiates his struggle to become independent as his
The young girl does not stray far from her mother or home whether by habit or timidness. She throws fits and screams at nearby people, warding them off by flinging mud in their direction. With physical, emotional and mental separation, Pearl is completely isolated. She possess a free-spirit and “...kindred wildness…” (140) that is apart from anyone else's . With her lack of human contact, she fails to interact with people in a civilized manner or “...be made amenable to rules” (62). She is called by many an elfish girl or demon child. Members of the town do not know what to think of the young girl and mind her carefully. Since Pearl has never experienced a life different from that which has been inflicted upon her by both society and her mother, she remains unaware of the disfunction such isolation has had on her
“The word autism still conveys a fixed and dreadful meaning to most people—they visualize a child mute, rocking, screaming, inaccessible, cut off from human contact. And we almost always speak of autistic children, rarely of autistic adults, as if such children never grew up, or were somehow mysteriously spirited off the planet, out of society. Or else we think of an autistic “savant” a strange being with bizarre mannerisms and stereotypies, still cut off from normal life, but with uncanny powers of calculation, memory, drawing, whatever—like the savant portrayed in Rain Man. These pictures are not wholly false, but they fail to indicate that there are forms of autism which do not incapacitate in the same way, but may allow lives that are full of event and achievement, and a special sort of insight and courage too” (Grandin, 12).
Thorough out this novel, Bowen attempts to reconcile her Western prejudice with those of the Tiv society. Her experience and her failures contribute to her lessons and revelations. She now holds the knowledge that language and social relationships are indispensable to research. Conclusively, Bowen understands that culture is reliant on understanding the cultures language and that this understanding will aid in social relationships.
The novel, Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is an incredible story about a developmentally disabled man named Charlie, chosen for an experiment that offers him the opportunity to become “smart”, his deepest wish in life. It is the story of how individuals labeled retarded, are treated with less concern than most people. It is the story of Charlie Gordon and the challenges he faces to fit in a society where his family, and friends find him either “too dumb” or “too smart” simply because he is different from them. Although there are several external and internal conflicts in the novel Flowers of Algernon, including the conflict between the new and the old Charlie, the conflict between Charlie and Alice as she is threatened by the new Charlie,
She daydreamed to escape life (Marilyn p.8). She was placed in orphanages on and off throughout her childhood. When placed in a foster home, foster parents seldom believed her if the subject of her complaint was the biological child of the foster parent...
On November 4, 1970 in Los Angeles, California Genie’s condition was brought to attention by a social worker. The worker discovered the 13-year old girl in a small, dimly lit, confined bedroom. An investigation by authorities exposed that the child had spent most of her life in this room and typically was tied to a potty chair. Genie was found in diapers because she was not potty trained. Her case is an example of extreme isolation from human contact, society, sunlight, and any other environments besides her room. The deprivation of attachment showed when she was timid to humans, almost afraid. Someone whose life was a developmental nightmare could not possibly be expected to have the basic trust that the world is trustworthy and predictable. The life she lived was incredibly horrifying as morals, and psychology portray just how severe the consequences were on Genie.
Pittaway, E., Bartolomei, L., Hugman, R. (2010) ‘stop stealing our stories’: the ethics of research with vulnerable groups. Journal of human rights practice Vol 2. No.2.pp. 229 – 251. DOI: 10. 1093
There was once a young girl –around 16– her name was Rapunzel. She was taken away from her mother before she was old enough to remember what she looked like. She grew up in a tall apartment complex all the way at the top floor, with a mother who she thought was her birth mother. Rapunzel wanted to leave the apartment and make friends, but her mother wouldn’t let her leave; she warned her that people were mean outside of their ‘happy’ home. She was sad that she was not allowed to leave her home, and she got very tired of seeing the same walls everyday. She got tired of having the same monotonous routine that she felt was embedded into her skull. She felt like she resembled a robot in many ways; she wasn’t allowed to have her own opinions, and she never found any more
“I am Sam” (2002) is an inspiring melodrama of Sam Dawson (Sean Penn), a young man with developmental disabilities and a single father to Lucy (Dakota Fanning). While the film did not specify the specific condition, it is believed that Sam had a mental capacity of a 7 year old. Sam and Lucy lived a comfortable independent life at a small apartment and were surrounded by supportive friends who also had developmental disabilities. Sam was able to raise and provide a loving and safe environment for Lucy until one day Sam found himself in a courtroom fighting to regain custody of Lucy who was taken away because he was believed to be incapable of raising a 7 year old girl who has a higher mental capacity than him. This movie is truly inspirational,