Isabel Quaresma, Portuguese Chicken Girl

Isabel was born in 1970 Tabua, Portugal to a mentally deficient mother. Isabel was the only child of three not to be fathered by a family member. Isabel was found at the age of nine and had spent the last eight years shut up in a hen-coop, deprived of human interaction and socialisation. Members of the neighbourhood regarded the situation as a family matter and would not get involved. Isabel was finally found and taken to hospital where a series of tests were conducted. After these tests she was sent back to the family who had treated her so badly.

For a nine year old, her growth was seriously stunted. She wasn't toilet trained and she could not talk. Isabel held her arms in the position of hens wings and the palms of her hands were calloused. She had been fed on scraps (the same as the hens feed) and one eye was affected by a cataract, supposedly due to a chicken scratch. She flapped her arms and clawed the ground with her feet to show emotion.

Eventually Isabel was taken to an institution for handicapped children. Eighteen years later she still hadn't grown much and made little progress generally. She could understand simple orders but had she been asked to fetch two items she would only be able to understand one of the two orders at the time and could only retrieve one of the items. Isabel had an estimated mental age of a two year old.

Isabel did show more signs of progression socially than in any other area. She was able to interpret expressions of others and understand whether they were happy or sad. Physically she had learnt to walk but still suffered a delicate stomach. Isabel was still unable to talk.