Maybe the topic of feral children is a bit of target from the armchair list, but I am curious to see if someone could share their knowedge about this. Do the stories about feral children -"lost or abandoned children raised in extreme social isolation, either surviving in the wild through their own efforts or 'adopted' by animals"- have any truth behind them or are they just "old wives tales"? I guess the question should be refined: how much truth is there behind particularly famous stories of feral children (Amala & Kamala, Victor the wild boy of Aveyron, Wild Peter, Kaspar Hauser, John Ssabunnya, the Hessian wolf-boy, etc.)? Most importantly, what are the conclusions and findings -assuming there is a general consensus- about them? What are the consequences of extreme social isolation in children regarding their abilities to develope complex forms of reasoning and abstract thinking? Is there a critical period for language acquisition?
Diego
