When she was first noticed by authorities in the Los Angeles area, she was, at age 13, still wearing diapers. She had the physical development of an eight-year-old due primarily to her sub-standard diet. When she was young, her father had decided that she was retarded and for this reason, kept her confined most of the time to her room, sometimes tied to a potty chair. Her mother claimed that she too had been a victim of this man. Shortly after Susan Wiley was discovered, on the day that they together were to appear in court, he shot and killed himself. Susan had had very limited social interaction, she could not talk having never been taught how.

Her language tutor was Susan Curtiss. Her first psychologist was James Kent. She also met at this time scientist Jay Shurley a psychiatrist who was an expert in social isolation. Her special education teacher was Jean Butler. At this time also David Rigler, a psychologist was a member of the team. He would become more important later in this case, he became her surrogate father, and later he and his wife, becoming her foster parents. She lived with David and his wife Marilyn Rigler and their children, for four years, in their home near Children's Hospital, Los Angeles.

The interest in Susan Wiley's case was heightened because linguistic theory at that time was informed greatly by Noam Chomsky. Chomsky had stated that the structures upon which we hang words and grammar were already hard-coded into the newborn's brain. When he learn language, we are merely placing our knowledge into this pre-existent structure. Eric Lenneberg later stated that although this was true, there is a deadline by which, as we age, we must apply it. If a first language is not acquired by puberty, it may be too late to ever learn language. Susan Wiley's case might be able to be used to test this theory. If she could be taught language.

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