Victor of Aveyron

Victor of Aveyron (also The Wild Boy of Aveyron) was a feral child who apparently lived his entire childhood naked and alone in the woods before being found wandering the woods near Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance, France, in 1797. He was captured, but soon escaped after being displayed in the town. He was additionally periodically spotted in 1798 and 1799.

However, on January 8, 1800, he emerged from the forests on his own. His age was unknown, but citizens of the village estimated he was about twelve years old. His lack of speech, as well as his food preferences and the numerous scars on his body, indicated he had been in the wild for the majority of his life. While the townspeople received him kindly, it was only a matter of time before word spread and the boy was quickly taken for examination and documentation.

His case was taken up by a young physician, Jean Marc Gaspard Itard, who worked with the boy (whom he named Victor) for five years. Itard was interested in determining what Victor could learn. He devised procedures to teach the boy words and recorded his progress. Based on his work with Victor, Itard broke new ground in the education of the developmentally delayed.