Last Name: Bristol

First Name: Anthony James

Title: The Case of Isabelle.

( This is an actual case presented by Peck and Krieger)

One of these children, whose first name was Isabelle, was the illegitimate child of a deaf-
mute mother. When the mother became pregnant at the age of 22, her family locked her in a
dark room. After Isabelle was born, she was confined with her mother to this room for 6-½
years. In November 1938, the mother escaped, carrying Isabelle in her arms. State authorities
placed Isabelle in a children’s hospital in Columbia, Ohio.

What was Isabelle’s condition at that time? Because her mother had been unable to
communicate with her except with gestures, Isabelle was also unable to speak. She was
terrified of strangers, especially men, and her behavior was hostile as a wild animal after its
capture. Because of poor food and lack of sunshine during her confinement, she was suffering
from rickets (bone disease). As a result, her legs were so badly bowed that she was unable to
walk. Even after she was calmed, her behavior generally was infantile.

At first she did not respond at all to speech, and it was assumed that she was deaf.
When it was discovered that she could hear, and her reactions were still so poor, the doctors
concluded that she lacked intelligence. They were convinced that Isabelle could not be
educated, and that any attempts to teach her would be a failure.

Nevertheless, speech experts did attempt to teach her, relying at first on pantomime and
dramatization. Soon afterwards, Isabelle began to respond remarkably. Within two weeks, she
was able to identify toys by name when they were presented to her. Within two months, she was
able to speak simple sentences, write well, and tell a story after hearing it. By the time Isabelle
was 8-½, she had reached a normal level of development. In two years, Isabelle had learned as
much as most children of her age usually learned in six years. She was a bright, cheerful girl
who spoke well and was able to walk and run without difficulty. She was soon entered in regular
school where she continued to make progress.
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I. Summary: -
There is this innocent baby girl who got confined in a black room with her mother who
got trapped in the room for 6 and a half years. After that they managed to escape and they
quickly went to a hospital in Ohio. They found out that the young girl and her mother were
traumatized by their experience being trapped. So they cannot speak or interact with other
people, they only use gestures when explaining. It also causes them to have problems with their
body because of poor food and lack of sunshine. Eventually they discovered that Isabelle can
hear but her reaction is poor. So they have to do their professional skills to help the young girl.
So after time went by at the age of eight and a half, they succeeded in helping her learn all that
needed to be learned at her age with massive results. Isabelle became cheerful and very bright.

II. Findings: -
Not too much data to be seen here. But the mother and daughter were confined for 6
and a half years. And the daughter was taught by experts and she became a normal young girl
in the span of 2 years after they escaped the confinement.

III. Conclusion: -
The mother was confined in a dark room, but it is unclear why. Because why do you
confined a deaf-mute mother who is also pregnant. It just doesn't make any sense. It is just hard
times that people have to face in this world. There will always be kinds of challenges in life when
it is so difficult to overcome. But in this article, it shows that in every darkness or difficulty in life.
There will always be a light in a darkest place and we should always follow the light even though
it is a very darkplace that is difficult. We always end up on the right path like what happened to
Isabelle that his dark path was not normal and has difficulties. And the light path when they
escaped through the confinement and they were helped by experts to become normal.

IV. Recommendation:
Give more sense on what went wrong to Isabelle’s mother who was confined in a black
room even though she was a deaf-mmute mother and also pregnant. So the result was
the mother and daughter had problems physically and mentally. We should always put
priority for the people who have disabilities because if we do not prioritize them or even
consider them. It will reflect on her daughter.

V. References:
https://www.edubloxtutor.com/isabelle-isolation/