How come the guy in L'Enfant Sauvage never managed to learn language while the girl in The Miracle Worker did (and became an intellectual)?
The girl was at a disadvantage, she could not see nor hear.
The advantage she did have is that she had always been in a human environment in the loving care of her family while he was all alone for a decade.
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There are MANY reasons and differences between the two.
Helen (age 7 when teacher came) had not yet reached the age of puberty...aka was still in the critical period where one can learn languages fully. Victor was probably already in puberty by the time they caught him.
Helen really fought to understand. Victor, we can never know what was gonna on in his mind, whether or not he wanted this or that.
there's a BIG difference between being blind and deaf (around humans) than being isolated all your life away from humans
There are theories that Victor was autistic which would change the whole equation!
Also, learning sign language (which Helen learned first) is so different from learning to actually speak. One of the greatest regrets in feral children history is that Victor was not taught sign language, which if he was would have probably been able to tell people what was going on with him and what he felt. Another feral child (a girl, isolated to age 11 or 12 in 1970s could not speak either, but was taught sign language and learned to express herself and explain things)
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What onlybegottenson88 said. Victor was too old to learn, he lived basically isolated from any human contact unlike Hellen Keller. In addition you cannot rule out the fact that Victor probably suffered from autism to some extent.
shareI agree with onlybegottenson88 and SeisCinemaSeis that Victor's situation was influenced by his age and possibly autism.
Another factor may be his diet. The reason so many reduced price or free food programs exist at schools is because people can't learn if they are hungry.
Helen Keller grew up in a middle class or wealthy background. Her parents sent her to several specialists plus hired an instructor. i don't doubt she had a very good diet, better than many working class folks, especially in the cities.
No two persons ever watch the same movie.share
One child was born into the southern part of hell, Alabama, and had to grow up around American southerners. The other was born in the beautiful, idyllic French countryside, and grew up around the fuh king French.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8UbwKTRT7I
Hey King of Fuh, go squat on a fence post, jerk!
Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, or doesn't.