The developmental psychology/neurology junkie in me LOVED this movie. It is a French movie (oh the joys of subtitles) that was made in 1970. It is based on a true story about a boy who had grown up in the wilderness and was blind to the ways of man and unable to communicate or express himself. The format is a careful narration by the doctor, that explains the boys progress in embracing humanity. It was inspiring and sad at the same time…
Rich joined me, but warned that if he got bored, he was out of there. Even he enjoyed this thoughtful, gripping account.
I was reading on wiki, that it was through cases like this of “ferel children” that enabled scientists to determine that there are sensitive periods in human development for learning how to interact with other people and for learning to talk, read, write, etc…
I was thinking that some of the doctor’s methods seemed so familiar in the movie and it turns out that Dr. Jean Itard had a huge influence on Maria Montessori and is also considered to be on of the founding fathers of special education.
You can read more about the movie here and the real story behind the movie here! Gotta love wiki!
I give it two thumbs up. Apparently it is available on netflix (isn’t just about everything) or possibly your local library (where I found it).
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