Genie Wiley Case Analysis

Genie Wiley’s Background

Genie Wiley is a pseudonym of a girl that went through many trials in her life. All of which had been bottled up in the horrors of living in a small room for twelve years in confinement with her abusive father. Reason for her being inside a room for twelve years is because her dad, Clark Genie, was self-centered and thought Genie was mentally retarded, thus he locked her up under the guise that he was protecting her. In doing so Clark separated Genie from her nearly blind mother, Irene Wiley, and six-year-old brother, John Wiley. Not only did Wiley lock up his own daughter but he spoon-fed her only Pablum and milk, spoke to her in mostly growls and barks, and beat her with a wooden paddle every time she attempted to

After the workers saw Genie, who had a gimp in her walk making it seem as though she moved in a jerky walk and also spat and clawed for no apparent reason, the Wiley’s were charged with child abuse. Ironically the day of the court date also marked the day of Clark Wiley’s suicide. When his body was discovered they also found his handwritten note that read: “The world will never understand”. Genie Wiley was admitted into a children’s hospital at the age of fourteen, yet she was still in diapers, and was so skinny she appeared to be an 8-year-old, with the language skills of an undeveloped

The case of Genie Wiley shows this when people see Wiley walk with her duck-like stride and bunny like arms. Due to being stuck to a “potty” half of her life and being confined against her will, her legs have developed in a way that makes her knees bend inward causing her to have an unnatural walk. We could see with any normal child, which has grown up with parents who actually made the effort to have skin to skin contact, that the children’s legs mature properly allowing them to walk straight rather than that of a penguin. Allowing the skin to skin contact has helped the children develop relationships with the parents and other people involved in their life which promotes an excellent growth for the rest of the body. Even after her tortured life with her father Genie Wiley was somewhat rehabilitated but no one could fix her penguin like walk or speech completely. After a certain point in the development of a child they are not able to correct certain issues like that of walking differently or learning language, although some progress can be seen but not to the extent of a child with a “normal”