Picture: My darling Natasha at 3.5 years of age. This was taken prior to her adoption being finalized in 2000.

What lessons about human development have been learned from feral children?

What is helpful for parents adopting Post Institutionalized children to know?

Feral children, infants or children abandoned to the elements who miraculously survive and are returned to civilization, are nature's attempt at the Forbidden Experiment. As it turns out prolonged social deprivation during childhood inevitably results in little language competence in the adult.

From: The Terrace Effect, Revisited

Here are some additional thoughts...

1. Language Development: The criticial period hypothesis states that children must learn to talk before puberty or they never will. Feral children seem to prove rather then refute this theory. And parents of Autistic children are encouraged to push their children to talk.



2. Psychosocial Dwarfism: Children under stress will fail to thrive. The stress suppresses the production of growth hormone. A 16 year old girl could have the physical body of a 8 year old child. Many feral children experience rapid catch up growth. This is seen in some Post Institutionalized children.



3. Hypertrichosis: Child is hairy because of malnutrition



4. Autism and Feral Children: Some people think there is a link between feral children and autism. Maybe early feral children were just autistic children. However the current theory is that Autism seems to be hard wired into brains. And while feral children have Autistic behaviors, these behaviors were caused by the lack of socialization/experience.

From: FeralChildren.com

About the emotional abilities of feral children. Every single child seems to be unique in this regard and a general theory cannot be drawn. However most seemed able to attach to caregivers.

The message that I received from reading about feral children was focus on communication with my adopted child. After adopting my darling daughter Natasha from Ukraine, I took care of her crossed eyes via surgery.

Then I focused on communication. The first therapy that I got her signed up for was language therapy. I talked non-stop to my darling about everything that was happening. I talked and talked until I was sick of my voice. Example:

I am unlocking the door with my key. I am holding Natasha's hand. The door is open. We walk in the house.

There is Max [our dog]. He looks happy to see us. See his tail wag.

Ooooooooo he is going to give you kisses, kisses, kisses.

And I taught Natasha my culturally accepted body language. We played at being mad, sad, tired, happy, lovey. We made faces in the mirror. We role played.

I was finally able to stop the over communication after being home 2 years. Natasha didn't need it anymore. I was sooooo glad to stop. I really was sick of hearing my own voice.

The second lesson that I took away was institutional autism. Just as feral children, PI children show signs of autism.

The major distinguisher between organic-based and institutional autism is a positive dynamic in the child's development of appropriate behaviors in the family. Most behaviors originating in organic-based autism will stay, showing small and slow changes, while the same identifiable behaviors associated with institutional autism should diminish progressively until complete disappearance (although they may re-surface in response to stress and environmental challenges).

From: The second glance at institutional autism in internationally adopted children

Feral Children
The Forbidden Experiment
Ukrainian Girl Raised by Dogs
What Can Be Learned From Feral Children?