G'morning Vern,

 VH> They must be socialized, yes -- just as they must learn to talk, walk,
 VH> read, and so on.  But it's becoming more clear that in the womb they
 VH> engage in activities to prepare them for life after birth -- in other
 VH> words, they embark on the journey long before they were thought to
 VH> exhibit such behavior.

Right on ... and best to be treated as recording devices sucking 
in every action and event from conception on to provide models for 
building future behaviour on.

People who treat babies from 0 - 2 as dolls senseless of adult 
behaviour drive me right up the wall.

 VH> I live in a state where we have whole counties with adult
 VH> illiteracy rates over 50%.  Remediation, if it is working
 VH> somewhere is not working there.

`Reading Recovery' works nicely on people who got a reasonable 
start in literate behaviour.

Real adult illiterates are only marginally better off than true 
feral humans who escaped the physical brain changes wrought by 
being reared in a human, literate environment.

A 14 year-old discovered in Fiji recently had been raised in a 
chicken coop,  and is almost totally resistant to re-programming 
(his minders use the word `rehabilitation' but he was imprinted 
with chickens so there isn't any `human-ness' to return to).

They can't even get him to stop hopping around...

Similarly with two children found in a South Island, NZ, hovel 
living in a locked cupboard, imprinted on each other.

Not so bad with real adult illiterates...but intractability rules 
nevertheless.  Having PSOed some Army recruits from back-country 
environs here in NZ many years ago,  only to find the Education 
Corps floundering on instilling minimum literacy, was an eye- 
opener.

It's like trying to train teenages with congenital cataracts to 
recognise the difference between triangles and squares post- 
operation...

Intellectually, they know about physical shapes but no matter how 
you go about it,  they still need to use their new visual ability 
to physically count the sides to tell the difference - making 
instant visual letter differentiation (and visual reading) 
impossible.

Every human baby should have the inalienable right to the sort of 
adult company that his society merits most....



Miles. 
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