The Whittakers: Experts reveal why members of America's most inbred family bark and grunt
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: 'Inbred Family: The Whittakers,' a documentary directed by Mark Laita, reveals that the members of the family bark and grunt while communicating with one another. The family lived in the southern part of the country, West Virginia, which is 75 miles away from Charleston.
The inbred family with members of older generations living in a small town in the Appalachian region work at their father's farm and are of British descent. One of the twins married his own cousin, further increasing the risk. Through multiple generations of inbreeding, the family is more likely to suffer rare genetic disorders.
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Why are Whittaker family members grunting and barking?
Experts claim that the family members bark at each other due to Level 3 autism because of which they can communicate only through non-verbal signs. This happened because of multiple generations of inbreeding. "Both autism and inbred disorders may have similar abnormalities of the brain structure and/or function," Dr Alex Prayson of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education wrote in his paper submitted to The Social Science Research Network. Further, he added, "Brain scans of these both children show variances in the shape and structure of the brain when compared with the neurotypical or normal brain found in children."
It is unclear if Danny Ray, one of the members of the Whittaker family seems to be worst affected, has ever received a formal diagnosis for this condition. However, most autistic children are non-verbal and they do develop some signs of speech at a later point in life. In rare cases, a person will remain non-verbal into adulthood. Some autistic people will bark and grunt to stimulate their senses and this process is called stemming. Scientists still claim that autism occurs in a person due to environmental and genetic factors, as per Daily Mail.
What are some of the findings related to the study on autism?
A study conducted by Yale University claimed that out of the DNA collected from 35,000 people, it identified 102 genes that increase a person's risk of autism. "Many play a role in the brain’s neural connections. The rest are involved primarily in switching other genes on and off in brain development," Dr Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, wrote about the findings." He continued, "With these gene discoveries in hand, the researchers will now also turn their attention to unraveling additional details about how these genes function in the brain."
Meanwhile, Prayson also claimed that inbreeding leads to high chances of autism. He said, "Inbreeding is considered a problem in humans because it heightens the chances of receiving a damaged chromosome inherited from a common ancestor. The act of incest does not cause birth defects. Interbreeding increases the probability of a child being born with a double dosage of one or more recessive genetic problems that can cause congenital birth defects." If two members of the same family with similar genetic make-up have a child, it is most likely to pass on to children, this is called the inbreeding coefficient. When two blood relatives marry, the risk of passing such conditions is high. Rare genetic defects are almost always caused by a combination of recessive genes, making inbreeding increase their risk.
Danny Ray Whittaker's condition
Ray can easily understand whatever a person asks or communicates. However, he can only grunt and bark when we communicate. In the documentary, we can see that when Ray is asked what he is eating, he shows the interviewer his sandwich. When asked about his late brother Freddy, he grunts and points to his grave near the house.