Oxana Malaya, a Ukrainian woman now 40 years old, faced a unique upbringing. She claimed that between the ages of three and nine, she was raised by stray dogs in the poverty-stricken village of Nova Blahovishchenka, Ukraine. Her life took a drastic turn when her alcoholic parents left her outside in the cold, citing a lack of beds at home. Desperate to survive, Malaya crawled into a dog’s kennel, where she found refuge and companionship.
“Mom had too many kids; we didn’t have enough beds,” she told 60 Minutes Australia.
Living among the dogs, Malaya embraced their behaviours and means of communication. She abandoned her ability to speak and instead communicated through barks and snarls, mimicking her furry companions. “I would talk to them, they would bark and I would repeat it,” said Malaya
Her diet consisted of raw meat and scraps scavenged from garbage bins, and she even walked on all fours, adopting the posture and mannerisms of a dog.
Anna Chalaya, the director of the special care institution where Malaya now resides, told the New York Post, “She was more like a little dog than a human child.” She further explained that Malaya would stick out her tongue when she saw water and eat by lapping food with her tongue instead of using her hands.
Malaya’s feral life came to an end when, at the age of nine, authorities intervened after she barked at a neighbour. However, her reintegration into human society was challenging. Despite efforts to rehabilitate her, she still struggles with the mental capacity of a six-year-old and finds it difficult to communicate verbally.
Child psychologist Lyn Fry expressed doubt about Malaya’s future, stating to the NY Post, “I don’t think she’s ever going to be able to read or do anything else that is going to be useful.” She went on to say that if you don’t have language by the age of five, you’re unlikely to learn any.
Despite her traumatic upbringing, Malaya expressed a deep desire to reconnect with her parents. In 2006, she awkwardly reunited with her father and half-sister, but the meeting did not bring the closure she sought. Malaya continues to feel lonely, often resorting to walking on all fours when she feels abandoned or neglected.
Malaya’s case highlights the critical role of early human contact and interaction in child development. Research indicates that infants begin developing language skills long before their first words. A developing child may be irreversibly harmed by excessive interaction with televisions, cell phones, and tablets, according to research published in August 2023 on the negative consequences of screen time for kids as young as one.
“Screens can disrupt or displace interactions with caregivers and limit opportunities for verbal exchanges, which can impair communication and social skills,” cautioned experts from the University of California, San Francisco.
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