Sunday, September 13, 2009
Mowgli Syndrome
There are three bases necessary for language to develop (physiological, cognitive, and social). The base that interest me the most is the social. I thought of feral children. Feral children are children who've grown up with minimal human contact, or even none at all. The impaired ability to learn language after being isolated for so many years shows that there is a critical period for language learning. I think it is devastating that a child would have to experience this, but there are several cases of this happening. Parents, teachers, other members of society should be there to train and guide children as they grow and nurture them into civilized and socialized adults.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I remember watching a special on TLC about a young girl whose parents pretty much abandoned her and she was raised by a family of dogs. The girl acted like a dog and had not means of communication when she was found. Specialists worked with her however, they had found her too late and she was only able to learn so much. She could talk and interact but it was very limited. Also, her social skills obviously were lacking. In many situations she would revert back to acting like a dog. It was so sad to see this situation. However, it makes you think what an integral role parents or any adult have in a child's development
ReplyDeleteWow, that is interesting. I went to look up it up, and I couldn't believe what I saw. That is so sad for the young girl.
ReplyDelete