feral children

have any of u seen that discovery channel show about feral children(childrn who grew up in the wild or were totally neglected by parents)some were raised by dogs and they were tryin to teach the kids to talk have u heard of this

i''ve read a story about this once but that's about it.
now this should be interesting

I read some stories a few years back, and covered some case studies in a few university classes that dealt with linguistic theories and limits to human knowledge.

Many children who've lived with animals tend to behave like their foster parents: they walk on all fours, make the same noises as the dogs, wolves or other hosts, and can bite and be aggressive. This provides confirmation that they certainly did spend their formative years in the company of animals. Oxana Malaya can be seen in the Optomen TV production, running around on all fours and barking like a dog.

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An article in Scientific American suggested that humans have been around in their present form for 120,000 years. However, we only discovered language and became technologically creative as late as 40,000 years ago. So what were humans like before that? And what would we be like if the influence of our current society was not present?

Feral children are children who have spent much of their formative years in the wild, without any contact with other humans for a significant period of their lives. Cases of feral children are thankfully rare, but are of immense interest from a scientific and educational point of view. Feral children provide data which help to answer a number of questions:

How close is human nature to the nature of an animal?

What aspects of human nature are genetic, and what aspects are learned?

What does consciousness mean?

Could we learn how to speak to animals, or could we teach animals to speak to humans?

Studies of feral children in the past have lead to breakthroughs in the education of people with learning disabilities, and indirectly has lead to the development of sign-language and Braille.

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There have been over 40 well documented cases of feral children in the last few hundred years. The first really famous example, was 'Wild Peter', who was only 12 years old when he was captured in Hanover in 1724. He was described as being a 'naked, brownish, black-haired creature', and would climb trees and live off plants. He never mastered speech, and it took a long time for him to even attempt to eat anything other than plant material. He spent 68 years in society, but never managed to learn to say anything other than 'Peter' and 'King George.'


There are some who are very sceptical about Feral children, while others, such as Carl Linnaeous who classed them as a new species of human - 'Homo Ferens' , regarded them as very real indeed. As cases diminish though, the chance of ever truly understanding the mystery of the Feral children, diminishes with them.

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In mythology A mythology is a relatively cohesive set of myths: stories that comprise a certain religion or belief system.


What is mythology?
Myths are generally stories based on tradition and legend designed to explain the universe, the world's creation, natural phenomena, and anything else for which no simple explanation presents itself. Not all myths need have this explicatory purpose, however. Likewise, most myths involve a supernatural force or deity, but many are simply legends and stories passed down orally from generation to generation.
..... Click the link for more information. and literature
Literature is literally or not literally "an acquaintance with letters" (as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary), but has generally come to identify a collection of texts. Nations can have literatures, as can corporations, philosophical schools or historical periods. It is commonly held that a literature of a nation, for example, is the collection of texts which make it a whole nation. The Hebrew Bible,
..... Click the link for more information. (in legend

A legend is a story, with important ontological consequences, passed by person to person.

A legend is a concept, an ideal or semi-true story with mythic qualities usually involving an heroic character or fantastic place and rooted in a kernel of truth; it is a meme that propagates through a culture.

Some legends we know today have their basis in historical fact. Before the invention of the printing press storytellers abounded, and typically would learn their stock in trade, their stories, from an older story teller, who might (or might not) have actually been there when the "story" was "history" bardic schools, oral history.
..... Click the link for more information. and fiction

Fiction is the term used to describe works of information created from the imagination. This is in contrast to non-fiction, which makes factual claims about reality. Fictional works -- books, pictures, stories, fairy tales, fables, films, comics, interactive fiction -- may be partly based on factual occurrences but always contain some imaginary content.

Fiction is largely perceived as
..... Click the link for more information. ), feral children often grow up with not only normal human intelligence, but also a healthy dose of survival instincts. Integrating them into human society is supposed to be relatively easy. In reality, however, feral children often seem mentally impaired, and in particular have almost insurmountable trouble learning a human language Language is a system of gestures, grammar, signs, sounds, symbols, and words which are used to represent and communicate concepts, ideas, meanings, and thoughts; language is a "semantic code". The study of language is linguistics, an academic discipline founded by Ferdinand de Saussure. Those who speak a language are part of that language's linguistic community.

Making a principled distinction between one human language and another is often not possible. One major issue is the dialect continuum phenomena, where the boundaries between named language groups are necessarily arbitrary. For instance, there are dialects of German very similar to Dutch which are not mutually intelligible with other dialects of (what we call) German.
..... Click the link for more information. . They also lack any number of social skills. Some scholars claim that many of these differences should be explained by the hypothesis that abandonded children are on average much more impaired (at birth) than non-abandonded children. In any case, converting a feral child into a relatively normal member of any human society is usually unworkable.

Legend

A legend is a story, with important ontological consequences, passed by person to person.

A legend is a concept, an ideal or semi-true story with mythic qualities usually involving an heroic character or fantastic place and rooted in a kernel of truth; it is a meme that propagates through a culture.

Some legends we know today have their basis in historical fact. Before the invention of the printing press storytellers abounded, and typically would learn their stock in trade, their stories, from an older story teller, who might (or might not) have actually been there when the "story" was "history" bardic schools, oral history.
..... Click the link for more information. and fiction

Fiction is the term used to describe works of information created from the imagination. This is in contrast to non-fiction, which makes factual claims about reality. Fictional works -- books, pictures, stories, fairy tales, fables, films, comics, interactive fiction -- may be partly based on factual occurrences but always contain some imaginary content.

Fiction is largely perceived as
..... Click the link for more information. also suggest that wolves
Gray Wolf
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species: lupus
Binomial name
Canis lupus
Linnaeus, 1758

The Wolf or Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) is a mammal of the Canidae family and the ancestor of the domestic dog.
..... Click the link for more information. , bears
Ursidae
Black Bear
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family
Ursidae


A bear is a large mammal of the order Carnivora, family Ursidae. The adjective ursine is used to describe bears.


Physical Attributes
Common characteristics between bears include dense fur, a short tail, great ability of smell and hearing, five un-retractable claws, and long and shaggy fur.
..... Click the link for more information. , or other normally hostile animals often adopt feral children as one of their own. Science, however, has found very few such cases to study.

Real-Life Cases
Hessian wolf-children (1341 Centuries: 13th century - 14th century - 15th century
Decades: 1290s 1300s 1310s 1320s 1330s - 1340s - 1350s 1360s 1370s 1380s 1390s

Years: 1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 - 1341 - 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346


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Events
Births

5 June - Edmund of Langley (son of King Edward III of England)
Deaths

Leo V, king of Armenia (murdered)

..... Click the link for more information. -1344 Centuries: 13th century - 14th century - 15th century
Decades: 1290s 1300s 1310s 1320s 1330s - 1340s - 1350s 1360s 1370s 1380s 1390s

Years: 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 - 1344 - 1345 1346 1347 1348 1349


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Events
English king Edward III introduces three new gold coins, the florin. leopard, and helm. Unfortunately the amount of gold in the coins does not match their value of six shillings, three shillings, and one shilling and sixpence, so they have to be withdrawn and mostly melted down by August of this year.

..... Click the link for more information. )
The Bamberg boy, who grew up among the cattle (at the close of the sixteenth century)
Hans of Liege; the Irish boy brought up by sheep
The three Lithuanian bear-boys (1657 Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century
Decades: 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s - 1650s - 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700s

Years: 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 - 1657 - 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662


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Events
Oliver Cromwell offered kingship of England, but declines

Year in topic
1657 in literature
1657 in science

..... Click the link for more information. , 1669 Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century
Decades: 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s - 1660s - 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700s 1710s

Years: 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 - 1669 - 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674


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Events
Samuel Pepys stopped writing his diary.
The Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb destroys several Hindu temples and banned the whole religion, so Hindus rebel.
Antonio Stradivari makes his first violin
Famine in Bengal kills 3 million people
The Hanseatic League, formed 400 years ago, holds its final meeting
Ottoman Turks take Candia, the Venetians lose Crete

..... Click the link for more information. , 1694 Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century
Decades: 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s - 1690s - 1700s 1710s 1720s 1730s 1740s

Years: 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 - 1694 - 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699


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Events
July 27 - A Royal Charter is granted to the Bank of England.
December 22 - The Triennial Bill became law.
December 28 - Queen Mary II of England died; King William III of England, Scotland and Ireland is now sole ruler after his co-ruler's death.

..... Click the link for more information. )
The girl of Oranienburg (1717 Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century
Decades: 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700s - 1710s - 1720s 1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s

Years: 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 - 1717 - 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722


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Events
January 4 - The Netherlands, England & France sign Triple Alliance
Montevideo, Uruguay, founded by Portuguese

Year in topic
1717 in literature
1717 in science

..... Click the link for more information. )
The two Pyrensean boys (1719 Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century
Decades: 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700s - 1710s - 1720s 1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s

Years: 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 - 1719 - 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724


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Events
January 23 - The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire
April 25 - Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe

..... Click the link for more information. )
Peter, the wild boy of Hameln (1724 Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century
Decades: 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700s 1710s - 1720s - 1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s

Years: 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 - 1724 - 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729


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Events
January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne
February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London


..... Click the link for more information. )
The girl of Songi in Champagne (1731 Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century
Decades: 1680s 1690s 1700s 1710s 1720s - 1730s - 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1780s

Years: 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 - 1731 - 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736


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Events
John Hadley invents the sextant
10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdom's Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in.

..... Click the link for more information. )
The Hungarian bear-girl (1767 Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century
Decades: 1710s 1720s 1730s 1740s 1750s - 1760s - 1770s 1780s 1790s 1800s 1810s

Years: 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 - 1767 - 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772


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Events
The Burmese invasion reaches the Thai capital of Ayutthaya, razing it.
North Carolina woodsman Daniel Boone goes through the Cumberland Gap and reaches Kentucky - in defiance of a decree from King George III. He discovers a rich hunting ground, contested by several 'Indian' tribes.


..... Click the link for more information. )
The wild man of Cronstadt (end of eighteenth century)
Victor of Aveyron Victor of Aveyron (also The Wild Boy of Aveyron) was a boy who apparently lived his entire childhood alone in the woods before being found wandering the woods near Saint Sernin sur Rance, France (near Toulouse) in 1797. He was captured, but soon escaped. He was then captured again and kept in the care of a local woman for about a week before he escaped once more.
However, on January
..... Click the link for more information. (1797 Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century

Decades: 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1780s - 1790s - 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s

Years: 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 - 1797 - 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802



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Events
January 3 - The Treaty of Tripoli (a peace treaty between the United States and Tripoli) is signed at Algiers
February 14 - The Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797), part of the Wars of the French Revolution.


..... Click the link for more information. ), portrayed in the 1969 Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Years: 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 - 1969 - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974



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Events
January-February
January 10 - After 147 years, the last issue of the Saturday Evening Post is published
January 14 - An explosion aboard the USS

..... Click the link for more information. movie by Francois Truffaut Fran�ois Truffaut (February 6, 1932 - October 21, 1984) is an icon of the French film industry and one of the founders of the French "New Wave" in filmmaking. He wrote, directed, acted and produced.
Fran�ois Truffaut was born out of wedlock in 1930s Paris where he was raised by his mother and his adopted father, Roland Truffaut. He never met his biological father. Truffaut had a difficult childhood which resulted in rebellion against his parents in particular and authority in general. Truffaut reported that his film The 400 Blows (1959) was largely autobiographical.
..... Click the link for more information. The Wild Child (L'Enfant sauvage)

Kaspar Hauser Kaspar Hauser (April 30?, 1812 - December 17, 1833) was a mysterious foundling in 19th century Germany with alleged ties to the royal house of Baden.
In May 26 1828 a young boy appeared in the streets of N�rnberg (Nuremberg), Germany. He was wearing peasant clothing and could barely talk. His only documentation was a letter to the captain of the 4th squadron of the 6th cavalry regiment where the writer asked the captain to either take him or hang him.
..... Click the link for more information. (early 19th Century), portrayed in the 1974

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s

Years: 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 - 1974 - 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979



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Events
January - Dungeons & Dragons officially released.
February 4 - Patricia Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army


..... Click the link for more information. film by Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (born 1942) is a German screenwriter, film director and actor.
Many of his films are, however, in the English language. He directed five films starring German actor Klaus Kinski. In 1999 he directed and narrated the documentary film My Best Fiend, a retrospective on his often-rocky relationship with Kinski. He is noted for his filmic interest in indigenous peoples.
..... Click the link for more information. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Jeder f�r sich und Gott gegen alle)

Genie (1970s)
Oxana Malaya, Ukraine, (1990s) raised with the dogs until the age of 8

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I hope this all helps to explain it all in a bit more detail, plus the case studies are very interesting

I saw the show yesterday night. I felt really sad about that one girl who her whole life was kept in a room with no one to talk to.

Originally posted by machinegunjordan
have any of u seen that discovery channel show about feral children(childrn who grew up in the wild or were totally neglected by parents)some were raised by dogs and they were tryin to teach the kids to talk have u heard of this

Wasn't the movie Nell with Liam Neeson and Jodie Foster based on a true story along these lines?

Ya, I caught part of the program last night. It is usually taught in Psych 101 in most colleges. Funny thing is the first thought that I had was werewolf myths.

I think Nell was based on that her Grandmother had a stroke and couldn't talk right, and that's how Nell learned to talk was by her grandmother. It was soomething like that, titian.

Originally posted by RabidGoose
I think Nell was based on that her Grandmother had a stroke and couldn't talk right, and that's how Nell learned to talk was by her grandmother. It was soomething like that, titian.

Oh, well I was only slightly off on this one. Ironically, a grandmother on my wife's side just got released after having a mini-stroke the other day. Maybe subconciously I was thinking of that...

one thing on the show that really caught my attention was a boy 4 years old living with a pack ofstray dogs in the ghetto in i think it was ukraine cause his mother was a drunk and didnt take care of him so he started to make noises like growls howls and barks and started biting the other kids and these psycologists were trying to teach him to talk and act like other people 2 years later when he was 6