1. On the 4th of November, 1970 a thirteen year old girl (given the name of Genie) was discovered by social
services and removed from her home. She was found in a room with nothing but a bed and a potty chair
to which she was tied. From the evidence collected at the scene of the crime it was assumed she had
been in such a state for approximately 10 years. Upon her removal from her home, her father shot
himself and her mother was placed in custody. Genie could not walk, talk, or communicate with others
but only crawled and spat like a baby. Because of her extreme isolation she was dubbed “The wild child”
because of her having no human contact with the world or humanity.
On the 25th of November Genie was taken to Los Angles Children’s Hospital in order to allow
researchers, therapists, psychologists, and doctors to have easier access to her. All were optimistic that
she would be able to learn all she had been deprived of and be able to lead a normal life.
On the 21st of May, 1971 a video was taken of her learning to tie her shoe and speaking for the first
time. Many of the doctors were somewhat apprehensive about her learning abilities and worried that
she would resort to pure memorization rather than actually absorbing the content. James Kent,
psychologist, worries about her relationship forming abilities and becomes a surrogate parent to Genie.
In the summer after her discovery, Genie went to live with the Butler family, her first foster care home.
This turned out to be a very hard time for the people who hoped to help her learn to live normally.
While the Buttlers were good to Genie she was removed from their home and moved to her
Psychologist, Mr. Riggler, home where she stayed for four years. Here she was able to make rapid
strides in her learning and speech abilities. It was Mrs. Riggler who taught her to “throw a proper
tantrum” by teaching her to express her anger in ways other than harming herself. One of these ways
was actually telling someone that she was angry. At this time she learned to read, say simple words, and
start working with sentence structure although the researchers were beginning to wonder if it would be
too late for her to actually learn an entire language. She also was encouraged to attend a nearby nursery
school in order to be with other children.
In the fall of 1974 all funding of Genies case were stopped and subsequently all work with her as well.
She was turned out of the Riggler’s home and all research and therapy ceased. At this time Genie was
still not able to really speak and still needed much more work and help in order to continue her learning.
She was sent to live with her mother at her request but was soon sent back after her mother deemed it
too hard to care for her. After being moved from home to home, she now resides in an adult day care in
California where she is still not speaking or writing.
My reaction….
Watching this story made me want to work more with the retarded children I know because I saw what
can happen when they are deprived of enough human contact. Genie was an angel locked inside of a
body that did not allow her to communicate her emotions, fear, hope, laughter, love, anger but instead
relied on signals like a toddler. Having a little brother also helped me to understand what she must have
gone through. I was 13 when my brother was born, and as he grew I watched how much he needed not
only touching, hugging, and rocking to relax, but also singing, talking, eye contact, and even kissing to
make him happy. Without even knowing we do it, we ask babies and small toddlers questions even

2. though we know they cannot respond, but this means so much to them. I believe that it makes them
feel loved, wanted, and important. They need to know that they are people, not just objects or things.
This is what Genie was missing in her life. And because she did not receive this as a child she did not
have that sense of who she was. I think that this seriously affected her ability to learn language and form
relationships as well. Another aspect of the story that I was very disappointed about was the fact that
once the grant stopped that allowed for research to be conducted with Genie all her closest “friends”
left her immediately, throwing her out of their homes and never seeming to care what happened to her
afterwards. Once again, they were treating her like an object rather than as a human being and I wonder
how this must have affected her emotionally. Every child, no matter what their state or knowledge in
life is, needs a solid home environment in which to grow, mature, and learn in so that they can have the
most chance for a good life. I believe this is what Genie needed most; it is something I thought maybe
the Riggler’s were going to give her, something she deserved but never received. Genie was like a flower
locked in a cold, hard, and ugly seed. All she needed was some love, concern, and time in order to
bloom. This film was both a sad story and a plea for those of us who have the time and talent to spend
time with these kinds of people in order to make a better life for them. And as a side note, helping them
makes our lives happier as well.