feral kids and autism??

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i saw a very interesting show on channel TLC channel 50 in the usa about feral kids(lived in disasterious areas and truma, and mental illness) and alot of the symptoms they showed were very much related to autism, the rocking, hand flapping..living in a feral state like shrunk there brains. I wonder if this caused autism? what do others think??

I think stimming is the mind's way of passively dealing with stress, so I wouldn't be suprised if they started getting that.

Were their brains actually smaller? Maybe from lack of education that would have kept their brains actively growing at a young age? When I here stories about "feral" children, it's usually where they were lost in the woods and somehow survived on their own or I guess some were socially isolated by cruel parents (i.e. kept in a basement or cage and not socialized at all). I'd like to see this program or find out more about it.. sounds interesting

No I don't think it causes autism. Feral kids are when kids live in the wild so they were raised by animals. There is also another kind of feral where a child is kept locked up inside their own house in a bedroom or in a closet. They don't develope normal so they don't learn to talk or learn any communication skills or socialness, etc. so they act like they are ret*d, blind, etc. Ones who grew up with animals act like them. Unfortunitly, they don't learn more than 100 words and they don't learn to live normal lives because they can't take care of themselves as if they are ret*d. It's like they have brain damage because their minds were wired to work like an animal so it's impossible to turn it into a human brain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_children

Definitely agree with Spokane Girl - this isn't a cause of Autism. This is actually an example of something looking like an ASD when it actually isn't.

Everyone "stims" when in an emotional extreme.

It's just that those with ASDs experience emotional extremes in everyday and "normal" situations.

Have watched that programme with the russian girl before who lived with dogs.

It isn't Autism,think it's because they aren't using all the parts of the brain so they close off,on that programme,some medical lady said if they get to a certain age [cant remember what it was] without speaking,they won't ever be able to speak.

It's nothing to do with autism, it's more like extreme PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

Thats interesting. I've read where if a child doesn't learn certain social skills and language skills by a certain age (can't remember what it was either... ) that they won't be able to learn it.. It is as though there is a window of opportunity to learn these skills as their brain is forming and if that time has past supposedly it is very difficult to learn those skills.. As someone on the spectrum who also has ADHD, who missed out on learning alot of the finer details of conversation and socialization at a young age, I wonder if I too won't be able to improve much upon my social skills.. I can learn to "fake it"... but that isn't the same as actually improving the ability to understand other people and learn to decipher body language, subtle nuances and witty jokes, etc.. In our case, I think it's more a matter of the wiring of the brain.. we aren't able to understand certain things and even if that part of the brain could be repaired, I wonder if that window of opportunity has past -- like the feral kid... that time when the brain was growing and could learn socialization skills???

I've always found feral kids interesting and even have thought I'd like to work with them.. they are pretty rare though... It seems like one kid who was around 10 was able to learn some words.. he was raised in the woods by animals I think.. I wish I could remember the details or the childs name, etc.. to be able to follow up on that case and see if there was improvement over the years... With science discovering new ways to grow brain cells (neurogenisis) sp? maybe that "window of opportunity" can be extended too ; ) I still have some hope in improving socially... other than just faking it...

If you find any links to articles about other feral kids, etc.. I'd be interested in reading them. Thanks.

~L

who knows but this article was pretty interesting.
autism and feral kids

but then again at google books it seems to be a connection
autism and feral google books
autism and feral

I think it's possible back when that autistic babies/children were exposed (put in the wild, left for dead) and instead survived. I mean that's what happened to Oedipus. He was exposed. People believed autistic babies were changelings.

Now here's an example of the anecdotal evidence that exists that suggests that Autism was around in Ancient Greece! (I think that's where Oedipus fits into mythology - correct me if I'm wrong, Kim!)

Regarding "Changelings" From Wikipedia:

Neurological differences
The reality behind many changeling legends was often the birth of deformed or ret*d children. Among the diseases with symptoms that match the description of changelings in various legends are spina bifida, cystic fibrosis, PKU, progeria, homocystinuria, Williams syndrome, Hurler syndrome, Hunter syndrome, and cerebral palsy. The greater proneness of boys to birth defect correlates to the belief that boy babies were more likely to be taken.[18]
As noted, it has been hypothesized that the changeling legend may have developed, or at least been used, to explain the peculiarities of children who did not develop normally, probably including all sorts of developmental delays and abnormalities. In particular, it has been suggested that children with autism would be likely to be labeled as changelings or elf-children due to their strange, sometimes inexplicable behavior. This has found a place in autistic culture. Some high-functioning autistic adults have come to identify with changelings (or other replacements, such as aliens) for this reason and their own feeling of being in a world where they don’t belong and of practically not being the same species as the "normal" people around them.[19] In the book The Stolen Child, Keith Donohue talks about the life of a changeling from the point of view of two boys.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=EFuzGU1wXq8[/youtube]I've always just assumed that the Feral Boy was autistic; he reminds me a lot of my autistic son (minus the hair), who I'm currently trying to teach how to use a boomerang. (Not a sharpened one though; Austrailian hunting.)

Good fortune,

- Icarus writes speeches for the Humungus...

QFT. You put it well, very succinctly (and I agree).
For those wishing to read books, I recommend:

See: "Not Even Wrong" by Paul Collins, which discusses his son's ASD & also famous historical case of a "feral child". Collins & his wife did a good radio interview, too:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/ ... ndex.shtml
(link to text transcript)

See: "The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog" by Bruce Perry & Maia Szalavitz.
Both were very good reads-I actually found the 2nd one (Perry's book) more personally illuminating (though it doesn't cover ASD's):
http://www.childtrauma.org/CTAMATERIALS ... ne_bdp.pdf
(link to chapter summaries).

The children raised with animals seemed to have a somewhat better outcome than the children who were victims of abuse who got locked in closets. Those raised with wolves, dogs, cats, or other animals seemed happy and well-adjusted with their animal companions.

There was a case in Burundi, East Africa, of a boy who was raised by monkeys. He was apparently autistic because he persisted in his monkeylike behavior long after he was exposed to humans. His food preferences were also very limited, a hallmark of autistic behavior.

Feral children who do develop speech do so at a rudimentary level. Their speech consists mainly of common nouns (dog, cat, etc.) Abstractions are lost on them. They have lost too much by being isolated from the world for so long.