Autism and Feral Children

Autism is a complex subject. The causes are still not fully known, although seem to be related to abnormalities in the brain.

For further information about autism, see the Autism Society of America web site.

It has long been thought that there was some sort of connection between autism and feral children. Many accounts of feral children clearly describe patterns of behaviour that we would now associate with autism. Indeed, Itard's detailed records of his work with Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron are generally considered to be the first documented account of an autistic child; although some believe that Peter, the Wild Boy of Hameln deserves that title.

A very recent book, Wild Boy by Jill Dawson, is a fictionalised account of Victor's life, which partly mirrors Dawson's own experiences of bringing up a son with Asperger syndrome. In fact, Wild Boy was prompted by the description of a feral child in Uta Frith's Autism: Explaining the Enigma. One chapter of this book is devoted to drawing parallels between autism and cases of feral children.

Not Even Wrong, has rather unfortunate beginnings. The author, researching the story of Wild Peter, comes to believe that Peter is the first recorded case of autism: and then, his own son is diagnosed as autistic. Not Even Wrong tells the story of both boys.

Investigations into feral children and autism are confused by the question of whether the children were autistic at all, and if so, whether they became autistic due to being abandoned, or whether they were abandoned because they were autistic. One child reputed to be feral — The Wild Boy of Burundi — turned out not to be feral child at all, but a severely autistic one.

In Persistence of a Myth, a chapter of The Empty Fortress (a shorter version of which was earlier published as Feral Children and Autistic Children in the American Journal of Sociology), Bettelheim thought that feral children such as Victor, and Kamala and Amala, had suffered from severe infantile autism, and goes on to suggest that because they were so severely autistic, they could never have adapted to live with, for example, wolves.

However, we've moved on since then, although neurology still has a lot to explain. Below, Andrew Teo sums up the difficulties with attempting to draw parallels between feral children and autism.

Autism and Feral Children, by Andrew Teo

Firstly, autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there are varying degrees of severity. Common traits include poor social interaction skills, a good rote memory, an attention to details, failure to understand abstract concepts, lack of empathy, lack of creativity, severe sensory problems, and intolerance towards change.

Secondly, while little progress has been made on the causes of autism, it has been determined that it is largely genetic and hereditary although an external component is still suspected due to the fact that autistic children begin as "normal" children in the first three years followed by regression. In contrast, it is widely accepted as fact that Dr Bruno Bettelheim's (who postulates that autism is caused by severe neglect on the part of the mother) theories are erroneous and his "treatment" of autistics bordered on abuse and was detrimental to the well-being of the autistic child.

In place of Dr Bettelheim's outdated theory, modern scientists have formulated several theories that attempt to pinpoint the exact way the autistic mind functions, including a disorder of the white matter, poor integration between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, a lack of "theory of mind" (the implicit knowledge that people function independently from your own psyche), and damage to the frontal lobe. The most controversial theory is by Simon Baron Cohen, who claims that autism is simply an extreme form of the male intellect, with an affinity for systems rather than human relationships.

I cannot bring myself to believe that autistic children and feral children are one and the same, neurologically. While they seem overtly similar, there seems to be subtle differences. Poor social interaction and lack of empathy seem to be the only thing the both have in common, really, and that's the thing people notice the most. There do not seem to be any other traits of autism present in feral children such as the rote repetitive movements, sensory difficulties, inflexibility and uncreativity.

Furthermore, cognitive retardation and the "irreversible inability to learn language" cease to exist at the higher end of the autistic spectrum, where intellect is on par with most people, but the core deficits of autism are still present. Also, people with high functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome are rather adept with the written word and verbal communication, but still suffer from social interaction deficits due to poor body language, ie nonverbal communication.

In addition, Genie, the most famous feral child, was found to have "the entire left hemisphere of her brain… almost totally inactive." (Wikipedia). Interestingly, Asperger individuals exhibit certain similarities to people who have their right hemisphere damaged, as opposed to their left. So here lies yet another hole in the autism / feral child connection.

It is really quite difficult to draw any real conclusion from this, however, I still don't believe that there is a real connection between autism and feral children. In feral children I think the social interaction deficit is by nurture, rather than in autism, where it is (apparently) hardwired.