Hi,
I am still around and constantly "lurking".  Stephen, 
thanks for retrieving the info that I searching for 
myself!  

More recently, I read that Genie's mother died a number of 
years ago.  I believe I contacted Dr. Curtiss in 2002 (?).

Shannon Gadbois

> Jean-Marc Perreault publicly asked me:
> 
> > A student of mine reported watching a recent 
documentary last
> > week-end during which they were discussing famous 
cases of "wild"
> > children, including the case of Genie. I was under the 
impression that
> > nobody really knew where she had ended up, but the 
documentary supposedly
> > showed footage of the woman. She was not talking. The 
person being
> i> nterviewed said Genie could pronounce words, but had 
no sense of grammar.
> 
> > Do you have any more specific info as to what has 
happened with Genie?
> > I'll try to find out which documentary the student 
saw...
> 
> 
> Hi  Jean-Marc:
> 
> That's easy. All I have to do is recyle a message I 
posted on that other list back in 2004. As it 
> happens, the most recent information in it comes from 
another student of mine, Shannon 
> Gadbois, who resourcefully asked Susan Curtiss and 
received an informative reply, which 
> she posted on TIPS. As we haven't heard from Shannon for 
a long time on TIPS, I assume 
> she's no longer with us. Bummer.
> 
> The only update I can offer is to check out that often-
maligned source, Wikipedia (search 
> using "Genie (feral child)" ). It's a pretty good 
account, although I wouldn't be so hard on Jean 
> Butler and much harder on the research team, especially 
David Rigler. I'd also mention the 
> sensational lawsuit launched by Genie's mother. 
Unfortunately, there's no source given for 
> the information under "Present Condition", so accept it 
with caution.
> 
> Stephen
> 
> ------- Forwarded message follows -------
> From:                 Stephen Black <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To:                   Society for Teaching of Psychology 
Discussion List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject:              Genie, the wild child
> Date sent:            Sat, 21 Aug 2004 11:37:39 -0500
> 
> 
> On 17 Aug 2004, Kristin Larson wrote:
> 
> >   Every semester a student will ask me what has 
happened
> > to "Genie" now that she is an adult.  I am aware that 
she lived in a group
> > home, but I have not been able to find out any 
information about her
> > development. Any suggestions?
> 
> Under the slogan, better late than never, I contribute 
the following.
> 
>  Little information is available. As Mark Walter noted 
in an earlier 
> post,  Russ Rymer, who wrote the definitive account of 
the whole sad 
> story (Genie: an Abused Child's Flight From Silence 
(1993), aka 
> "Genie: A Scientific Tragedy"), provided a brief update. 
According to 
> Rymer (in his 1992 account in _The New Yorker_ 
magazine), Dr. Jay 
> Shurley, one of the group who had studied her, showed 
Rymer two 
> disturbing photographs of "a large, bumbling woman with 
a facial 
> expression of cowlike incomprehension".  Of the second 
photograph, 
> Shurley said:
> 
> "Her twenty-seventh birthday party...I was there, and 
then I saw her 
> again when she was twenty-nine, and she still looked 
miserable. She 
> looked to me like a chronically institutionalized 
person. It was 
> heartbreaking...She looks demented".
> 
> On the other hand, David Rigler, the chief psychologist 
at the 
> hospital where Genie was treated, and Genie's temporary 
foster 
> parent, said in a 1993 letter to the New York Times (his 
sole 
> comment, as far as I know,  against charges that he 
exploited Genie):
> 
> "As I write this, Genie is again living in a board-and-
care home, 
> this time under happier circumstances. Genie visits her 
mother 
> regularly. My wife and I were invited to visit her in 
the company of 
> her mother. Although we had not seen her for more than 
15 years, we 
> all of us cried as she greeted us by name". 
> 
> Finally, my former student Dr. Shannon Gadbois,  now 
professor  of 
> psychology at Brandon University, wrote to ask Susan 
Curtiss the same 
> question, and she posted Curtiss's reply on that other 
list for 
> psychology teachers (that unmoderated, uncensored, 
anything-goes, 
> Wild West one) in 2001.
> 
> Shannon reported that Dr. Curtiss said:
> 
> 1. Genie is in an adult care facility that Dr. Curtiss 
described as 
> "atypical" in that it offers exceptional exposure to 
events and 
> activities. Each year Genie travels with her group to 
Las Vegas to 
> play slot machines and explore. They also go on regular 
outings and 
> have "social functions" at the care home.
> 
> 2. Dr. Curtiss said that, unfortunately, Genie's 
language skills have 
> deteriorated as has her ability to sign (she really has 
no one with 
> whom she can "practice" signing). Despite these 
setbacks, Dr. Curtiss 
> said that Genie is still "a powerhouse of zest for 
life". 
> 
> 3. Dr. Curtiss also said that not one member of 
the "team" that 
> worked with Genie has been permitted to see her. Her 
mother, as of 
> last year, was still the legal guardian, and had 
forbidden the team 
> members to see Genie. Dr. Curtiss receives all of her 
information 
> through Genie's social worker".
> 
> I've also had students tell me they were told by another 
(always 
> unidentified) instructor that Genie had died of cancer. 
As far as I 
> know, this rumour is false. Possibly it originated with 
confusion 
> with the death of Jean Butler Ruch, Genie's sometimes 
teacher and 
> adversary of Curtiss and Rigler. She died of stroke in 
1989. A 
> colleague suggested it was Genie's mother, Irene, who 
had died of 
> cancer, but I haven't been able to verify that either.
> 
> 
> ___________________________________________________
> Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.  ([EMAIL PROTECTED])          
> Department of Psychology        
> Bishop's  University                
> Lennoxville, QC  J1M 1Z7
> Canada
> Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
> TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at
>  
http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm 
   
> _______________________________________________
> 
> 
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Shannon Gadbois, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Brandon University
270 - 18th St.
Brandon, MB  R7A 6A9
Phone:  (204)727-7306
Fax: (204)728-7346


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