WARNING - this chapter mentions very serious child abuse. if that triggers you, please stop reading now.
i got the information from a thread, but since i've read genie's entire wikipedia page i might add in a few facts of my own. (although it was a while ago so don't count on it)
genie was born in 1957 to a mother who was almost completely blind and an extremely abusive father. she had a brother who was 5 years older than her. genie was born perfectly normal, other than a slight hip problem which led her father to believe that she had learning difficulties. he was ashamed of her and decided to hide her from society. he kept genie strapped to a child's potty all hours of the day in a makeshift straitjacket which kept her arms trapped. because of this she could only move her extremities (hands and feet). this is where he kept her -
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at night he tied her into a sleeping bag or put her in a crib with a metal sheet over it to keep her from getting out. often he did not feed genie and when he did he wouldn't give her solid foods - only baby food, cereal, and soft boiled eggs. her room was kept in almost complete darkness and her windows were blacked out with blankets, raincoats, and curtains. the most light she got was from the slight view of sky and the neighbour's house that she could see from her crib. genie was also kept from sound or speech as her dad hated noise so much to the point that he had killed genie's older sister when her cries had annoyed him. when she mwas ten weeks old, he placed her in the garage and she died of pneumonia.
his hatred for noise was so evident that their house didn't have a tv or radio and he would beat his wife and son for speaking. because of this, genie was never shown the concept of speech and any time she made a sound her dad would beat her with a wooden plank and she never learnt a first language because of him. he would even stand outside her bedroom door and bark and howl like a wild dog to frighten her. he even grew out his nails to scratch her.
genie's dad taught his son to keep his abuse of the children a secret and only allowed him to go to and from school. sometimes when his son came home he would have a shotgun on his lap to scare him into behaving. he even made his son rub genie's food in her face while he fed her. her mum was extremely dependent on her husband because of her blindness and was afraid to speak up because of his abuse. but one night in the middle of a violent argument she threatened to walk out unless she was allowed to call her parents. he allowed it.
she took 13 year old genie and left. a few weeks later she decided to apply for disability money and took genie with her. however, she walked into social services by accident. the woman at the desk saw genie and knew straight away that something was wrong. genie could not stretch her limbs all the way, eat solid food or swallow anything. she had two full sets of teeth in her mouth and walked with a characteristic bunny hop.
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when throwing a tantrum genie could often be calmed down by being given brightly coloured plastic objects like containers or beach pales. she hoarded these objects and got very upset if anyone touched or took them. she also had a habit of masturbating in socially inappropriate settings and would sometimes try and involve older men when she did it. scientists suggest that her father may have sexually abused her and that's where she learned it. shortly after his arrest, her dad killed himself by a shotgun to the head and left two notes. one was to his son and said "be good, i love you" and the other said "the world will never understand".
genie did not understand the concept of death and was very afraid that her father would come back to get her. she learned very few words and phrases but often used them to ask the scientists where her dad was out of fear. she was used by the scientists to see if you could be too old to learn a first language. she also had an extreme fear of cats and dogs but the scientists didn't realise until years later that the fear derived from her dad pretending to be a dog outside her door. she spit constantly and sniffed anything near her.
genie improved tremendously under the scientists' care. they determined that her brain was fully intact but functioned at the rate of a 1-2 year old. eventually it was found that her brain functioned the same as an average 10 year old. one of the scientists adopted genie and her and her boyfriend helped her surpass her fear of dogs and taught her sign language. but the scientist bragged all the time that genie would make her famous and eventually genie was removed from their home.
she was put into another home where she was cared for until she was 18. once she was 18 her mother, who was found not guilty for what she was accused of, wanted to care for genie. after only a few months of caring for her, her mother could not handle her and gave her up. genie was taken to a foster home where the staff beat her and emotionally abused her. they rarely let her mum come for a visit and when she threw up they threatened to never let her see her mum again. genie then refused to open her mouth again in fear of consequences.
the abuse caused genie's progress and mental health to deteriorate. she lost a lot of her vocabulary but could still sign very well. she was then moved to another foster home, and then another. she expressed that she thought it was her fault that she was constantly being re-homed. she said she thought it was her fault because she "wasn't a good enough person". genie was eventually put into a care facility in california. she used her limited vocabulary to say this-
"father hit arm. big wood. genie cry... not spit. father. hit face - spit. father hit big stick. father is angry. father hit genie big stick. father take piece wood hit. cry. father make me cry. father is dead."
genie's mother died in 1980 and her brother settled in ohio where he died in 2008. she hasn't been in the media by request of her mother before she died, but a private investigator apparently found her and says that she's in good health and continues to sign.
this was sad and kinda scary, but also interesting. what did you think? do you want me to post more things like this?
