an alleged feral child, unsocialized and unable to read or write, found dwelling in the woods near Aveyron around 1800 and analyzed by French doctor Jean Itard . It has been said that the boy may have been autistic and abandoned in the woods by his mother and father. Itard's efforts to teach the boy motivated his student, French-American doctor Edouard Seguin , to cultivate materials and techniques for training people with learning troubles.