Delve into one of history's greatest linguistic riddles. In 1970, social workers in Los Angeles discovered a modern-day "wild child," a 13-year old girl who had been forced to sit alone, day-after-day, strapped to a potty chair with only bare walls to look at. She was severely under-developed, unable to talk and barely able to walk.Rescued from her living nightmare, the girl known as "Genie" captured the attention of the media and the hearts of her doctors. At the time of her discovery, a debate raged over a hypothesis describing a "critical period" of language acquisition. Because no one would ever intentionally deprive a child of language for science, it seemed an impossible theory to prove – a "forbidden experiment." Genie provided a rare opportunity to test this hypothesis.
Features:
- Printable materials for educators
- Access to the NOVA website
- Scene selection
- Closed captions
Witness Genie's strange and riveting story as doctors try to unravel this linguistic riddle. And, take this rare opportunity to view never-before-seen footage documenting the controversial research methods used in a similar case in 19th century rural France.
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