ABSTRACT

David Finkelhor, who from September 1971 to February 1984 actively lived his life in a sterile isolator, was severely deprived of experience of the physical world. His unique perceptual development intrigued the people from the beginning and seemed worthy of description. David's difficulty with space, depth, and size related clearly to his drastically limited and confined physical experience rather than to cognitive or visual-motor-perceptual deficits. The concept of bodies of water, lakes and rivers and pools, were virtually impossible for David to understand. Even more basic than David's problem with water was his belief that the ground's surface was like a sheet of paper. The underpass at Fannin and Holcombe Streets could not be explained to him despite many attempts. From his vantage point, he could only glimpse the top of the railing marking the beginning of the underpass. David showed little interest in photographs of landscapes but could analyze subtleties of abstract and surrealistic paintings for hours.