RAY WHITTAKER Explained- The Man Who Grunts and Barks

Ray Whitaker is one of the most beloved members of the Whitaker family and initially when he was filmed it shocked us to think how this person can live so animalistic barking and living in squalor it's not until we watch more of Mark's videos that we see Ray is happy and he actually is a lot smarter and more aware than what he shows us in order to understand this I'm going to dive deeper into his behavior and we're going to see how he can communicate despite his obvious bodily limitations so let's get started if you're new

to my channel welcome here on Mortal faces I did do the Whitaker family tree outlining who is who and where they came from so you can check that video out subscribe for more videos and let me know in the comments who you want to see next Ray was born on August 28th 1953 he will be turning 72 next year mark explains in his initial encounter seeing him barking when he was filming him for the first time Ray ran right up to the camera with his face to the lens as if he never saw a camera

before Ray's parents were John Emory and Gracie Irene Whitaker two first cousins their fathers were brothers and not only that the two brothers were related to Gracie's mother aah whom John Whitaker married one generation up John and Henry's mother was Elizabeth whose sister was a's mom what's interesting is Ray's brother Freddy was like Ry except more mellow his sister Lorraine cannot speak as well nor can her her son Timmy Barbara was a sister who passed away and was similar to Lorraine so there is a link and it's present within the Whitaker family and that makes

this generation so vulnerable the National Institute of deafness and other communication disorders had also discovered that there is one genetic variant in particular that is linked to developmental language disorder when Ray was younger he was a Tasmanian angry running around screaming and barking to an out Ider he may seem feral like a wild animal his disheveled appearance could also lead us to that interpretation and when we go see his sleeping quarters and the bathroom oh it brings us to the sense of Untamed Wilderness Mark's videos revealed a lot more depth to Ry by listening to

the family members who live and take care of him we can see that their knowledge about their brother is a lot more complicated than meets the eye communication Ry can communicate he just does it in his own way a way that he developed himself have you heard of this aaia of speech it's a disorder that affects certain brain Pathways it can interfere with a person's ability to say what they want correctly even though they understand what you said are willing to perform it know how to do it and have working muscles if your brain has

difficulty coordinating those muscles to work in tandm order thus never developing or developing with limitations then within the critical period of a child which is up to the age of five essentially you may lose the ability to speak or speak properly altogether it's not that your mind isn't working it's just that in this case you can't physically produce words it's like you use it or you lose it and that may be the case not just with Ry but with Timmy Lorraine Freddy and Barbara depending on how much their oral motor skills develop during the critical

period relates to their ability to speak as an adult and a link with autism or any other underlining disorders may also affect this so the way Ray communicates is that he has been able to develop grunts which uses basic oral motor skills it doesn't require the complicated use of your oral muscles your tongue and your vocal cords which we often take for granted we see him also having the ability to use the rest of his body and his motor function normally grab items use them and point with Precision he is aware of what he's doing

so even though he can't speak his grunts plus his motor abilities enables him to communicate happiness pain excitement what he wants or things that happened and he can respond to you listen and do what you tell him to do so his mental capacity is strong for example something is wrong with his leg it's causing him constant pain a direct way of telling you about it is by grabbing you for your attention and lifting up his pants and pointing to it accompanied with a grunt his grunts have meaning you can hear the tone of a sorrow

grunt a wailing grunt excited happy or just yes look this neutral grunt the context shows the meaning and Ry is aware he knows how to put the context into the meaning there was a time when he got bid by a snake he knew what happened and it could be poisonous he went and got a shovel and scooped it up bringing it back to the house to show the others he pointed to the bite and the snake identifying that he got bit and according to Kenneth he is very aware of holidays time place and celebrations and

I also noticed something very interesting about Ry which shows his limitations as well when they were bowling Lorraine and Ray got excited for the act of throwing the ball on the ground the second aspect of watching it hit the pins they didn't quite understand as they would go back to their seats before it hit Ry knows to take a picture with somebody and can pose which is a single task but if we look at purchasing he knows to copy everyone and put the items on the conveyor belt however he took his shoes before it was

paid for it seems he understands part of the tasks however follow throughs and secondary aspects of tasks he doesn't quite grasp putting it on the conveyor belt is one purchasing is two he stops at one much like bowling throwing it and waiting to see if the pins fall are two tasks he stops at throwing or decorating a tree he puts the ornament close to it but stops at hooking it onto the branch it's as if one task he focuses on and anything beyond that is not in his vicinity of accomplishments it's like if he has

to urinate he will find a spot and just go where the spot is is not too important he knows to use the bathroom to pee but if someone is there he's not going to wait he will go to the urinal see you bark at you which tells you you're in my way and in his mind is focused only on urinating and nothing else you see Ry is a character with a huge personality and a mind of his own he knows what he wants and he knows what he doesn't want and even though he cannot physically

speak his communication skills are purposeful all you have to do is observe the context and tone of his gestures and you can know what he's saying and that brings us to the end of this little video I hope you enjoyed it you can check more on the Whitakers on my channel I do have the link in the description Subs for more videos each of your subscriptions as help this channel grow allows me to continue making more content for you let me know in the comments who you want to see next I do make a list

of all your suggestions and I will see you in the next one