Premium Essay

How Did Helen Keller: Blind And Deaf?

Submitted By
Words 793
Pages 4
Blind and Deaf? Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia Alabama. When Helen was 18 months old she was ill with “Brain Fever.” This sickness caused her to lose her hearing and sight. Her disabilities caused Helen to have anger problems, throwing tantrums and screaming. Her family cook Martha Washington, created a type of sign language to communicate with Helen. By the time Helen was seven they had already made 60 different ways to communicate with each other. In 1886 Alexander Graham Bell was working with deaf children and agreed to meet with Helen and her family. Bell wanted her to go to Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. At the institute Helen met with Anne Sullivan, a former graduate who soon became her teacher. Anne Sullivan was the spark that ignited Helen’s early career. Sullivan was teaching Helen in alabama where she grew up. Anne started teaching her finger spelling. …show more content…
Keller was introduced to the famous writer Mark Twain once she was known throughout public. Later, Twain introduced Helen to Henry H. Rogers who paid her to attend Radcliffe college. With the help of Anne Sullivan she was able to attend classes without any trouble. While she was at Radcliffe she had mastered several ways of communication. Touch-lip reading, Braille, speech, typing, and finger spelling were just some of the methods she had learned. In 1903 she published her first autobiography “Story of My Life” with the help of Anne Sullivan and John Macy, Anne’s soon to be husband. Many people were inspired by her story, Helen once said “Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows”. Helen graduated from Radcliffe College at the age of 24 in 1904. She lived with Anne and John after they got married and she resumed to learn from her mentor. Anne and John soon separated but never got divorced, some think this happened because of Anne spending so much time with

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Helen Keller Research Paper

...Helen Keller was born June, 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her parents were Captain Arthur H. Keller and Katherine Adam Keller. She grew up on a large farm called Ivy Green. Helen enjoyed the horses, dogs, and chickens. She began speaking at 6 monthes old and by the time she was a little over a year old, Helen was walking. In 1882, she was stricken by an illness. She was running a high fever with headaches for several days. This illness left her blind and deaf. Today it is believed she had brain congestion or scarlet fever. Helen became a very wild, unruly child throwing tantrums, kicking, hitting and seemed very frustrated. Her parents new something had to be done to help their daughter. In 1887, they contacted the Perkins Institute for...

Words: 649 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Helen Keller

...Story of my Life by Helen Keller The Story of My Life by Helen Keller is an autobiography of Helen, a girl who was born without any abnormalities until the age of 19 months that she came down with a fever. Leading to an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain, the doctor said she might not recover, although she did survive it lead to her being blind and deaf as a result. Helen’s autobiography talks about her childhood when she met Anne Sullivan, to learning to use sign language, to being able to learn to read on her own, which led her to write her first short story titled "The Frost King,” to Mr. Anagnos, but was sad at the fact it was plagiarized and was found similar to, "The Frost Fairies" by Miss Margaret T. Canby, in a book called "Birdie and His Friends,” and how it affected her friendship with Mr. Anagnos had ended because no one believed that she did not intend to plagiarize the story. She also talks about her visit to Boston, to the Perkins Institute, and seeing other children who are blind and chat with them, "what joy to talk with other children in my own language" (Ch9). Helen also talks about going to Radcliffe College for the first time and overcoming obstacles with her teacher, Anne Sullivan; for example, when she could not get her books published in Braille in time and it was a difficult learning process but Anne had some difficulty signing into Helen’s hand. She talks about Anne and her new acquired friendships such as with Mr. Anagnos, Alexander Graham...

Words: 851 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Helen Keller

...Helen Keller: An Extraordinary Woman The name Helen Keller is known around the world as a symbol of courage in the face of overwhelming odds, yet she was much more than a symbol. She was a woman of luminous intelligence, high ambition, and great accomplishment. She was a woman to stand up for her believes in and would challenge anyone who would stand in her way. She had an ability to demand and captivate her audience. She was outspoken in her principles, and she inspired change in the way people with visual impairment were treated. She pushed revolutionary changes in the law that would allow people with disabilities to have jobs and an education. I am inspired by Helen Keller because she was a person with so many challenges at such a young age. Yet she was able to overcome them and change some many things in our country, but she didn’t stop just in our country. She went overseas where some people also had no way to speak their opinions and needs. Even with her disabilities she never wanted pity. She asked for sympathy and understanding. Helen was an extraordinary woman. When Helen was nineteen months old, she contacted a virus with a high fever and that was what caused her to deaf and blind. Unfortunately, being that young, what memory traces were left became impossible to say. In 1887, unknowing to Helen, someone was going to change her unruly behavior, that’s when Anne Sullivan became her teacher (Keller 15). One day when Helen and Ms. Sullivan were getting...

Words: 1538 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Helen Keller Research Paper

...The life of Helen Keller This is about Helen Keller, she showed the world to never give up on your dreams. Her name was Helen Keller, she was beautiful and very smart(Gare Thompson). Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, she was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama(Gare Thompson). She was a lovely young lady from Arthur Keller and Kate Keller(Gare Thompson). She had a sister named Mildred Keller and three brothers named James Keller, William Simpson Keller, and Phillips Keller(www,google.com). Her and her siblings grew up in Tuscumbia, Alabama(Gare Thompson). Helen Keller never got married or had any children(Gare Thompson). Helen went to Radcliffe(Gare Thompson). It was her dream to go there, they have taught her a lot. Helen became a author and a teacher, it took her a little to become a author. She was scared to become a author, when she was young she wrote a book that was the same as another book but she didn't know her and her teacher, Anne Sullivan got kicked out of the White house....

Words: 429 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Helen Keller Research Paper

...Helen Keller was one of the greatest women who had achieved many amazing things even when they had obstacles in their way, but for Helen she didn't let her being blind and deaf stop her from learning and for always wanting to speak up. Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was born as a regular healthy baby and nothing was found wrong with her until Helen was nineteen months old, she became seriously ill and during this time there was no medicine to help cure her fever. Everyone thought that Helen was not going to get better and that she would not going to make it. But somehow luckily Helen’s fever seem to have been going down and had later disappeared. After the fever, Helen did not returned back to the healthy baby she was before because she lost both her hearing and her eyesight....

Words: 860 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Helen Keller Illustrated In Annie Sullivan's The Miracle Worker

...In the book The Miracle Worker and the play The Miracle Worker Annie Sullivan a teacher helps a young girl Helen Keller who is deaf, blind, and mute. This may seem almost impossible but it really happened. There are many ways the book and the play were different though. To start off with Annie Sullivan was blind at one point in her life because of something that she contracted. There were a lot of things that were similar in both the play and the book. One of the things that was similar in both was the water pump scene when the family was having dinner. Helen would not put the napkin around her so her food would not spill and she refused to eat with her fork. Annie then tried to get Helen to use her napkin and utensils but during this Helen spilled the water so Annie took her outside to fill the jug again. As there were outside Annie was spelling into Helens hand water that is when Helen learned that all words have meanings. Helen then went around...

Words: 624 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Helen Keller Play: Script

...GROUP II ROLE: MRS. KELLER - ___________________________ MR. KELLER - _________________________ DOCTOR - ___________________________ DIRECTOR ANAGNOS - ___________________________ ANNE SULLIVAN - ___________________________ HELEN KELLER - ________________________ SCRIPT: On June 27, 1880, a girl named  Helen Adams Keller, a very well-knowned writer, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama,   in a white, frame cottage called “Ivy Green.” Her parents were captain Arthur Henley Keller and Kate Adams Keller. (Helen is two years old.  Mrs. Keller enters the bedroom) MRS. KELLER: Helen, wake up, sweety!.  It’s a beautiful day!. (she tries to wake her up, but Helen doesn’t open her eyes. Mrs. Keller touches Helen’s forehead)  MRS. KELLER: Helen, what’s wrong?.  Wake up!.   Oh, no you have a  high temperature!. (Mr. Keller enters the bedroom) MR. KELLER: What’s wrong?.  Why are you yelling?.  MRS. KELLER: It’s Helen, she’s burning!. MR. KELLER: Again?. MRS. KELLER: I thought she was better, but the temperature is back. MR. KELLER: I think we have waited too long.  I’ll send someone for the doctor. (Mr. Keller leaves.  A few minutes later he comes back with the doctor. The doctor approaches Helen and starts to examine her. Mrs. Keller and Mr. Keller look worried)  MRS. KELLER: What’s wrong with her, doctor?.  DOCTOR: First tell me, how much time did you wait before calling me?.  MRS. KELLER: Well, I noticed that she was sick about two or three weeks ago, but the temperature disappeared, that’s...

Words: 1444 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Helen Keller: America's First Lady Of Courage

...Helen Keller was an American creator, political dissident and instructor .She was the main hard of hearing and visually impaired individual to acquire a four year certification in liberal arts degree. Helen Keller was conceived on a plantation called Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Helen Keller was conceived with the capacity to see and listen. At 19 months old, she gotten a sickness portrayed by doctors as "an intense blockage of the stomach and the cerebrum", which may have been red fever or meningitis. Her disease was most likely to be bacterial meningitis. For a number of days Helen was relied upon to bite the dust, however at last Helen's fever bankrupt. Her parents Arthur and Kate celebrated at her recuperation, yet were soon alarmed...

Words: 1104 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Helen Keller

...I chose Helen Keller as my person for the individual project. The reason I chose Helen Keller is that I think she was an extraordinary person. She overcame some very difficult and personal battles. I have been intrigued, fascinated, and curious about her and her disabilities since I was around 12 or 13. I even learned to sign the alphabet, partly so I could talk to my friends in class, the teacher would not know what we were doing, and I wanted to know what it was like to use my hands to communicate. Helen Keller was born in Alabama in the late 1800’s. When she was almost two, she had an illness that caused her to lose her ability to see, hear, and speak. This was a time when people did not know how to deal with people or children with disabilities. Most of the time they were sent to special hospitals or institutions to live. Helen parents could not do that and did not know how to teach her so she became a wild child, doing whatever she wanted. When she was six or seven her parents had a young teacher named Anne Sullivan come live with them and work with Helen. She did not let Helen get away with whatever she wanted to do, so there was a lot of conflict with her parents to start with. After a few months, Anne was able to get through to Helen and she learned quickly after that. In 1888, Anne and Helen went to Boston; Helen wanted to help other blind and deaf people. She was...

Words: 633 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Annie Sullivan Research Paper

...fog uplifted from her dark world, and she became a famous name in history. Annie Sullivan faced a harsh and discouraging childhood, taught Helen Keller, a deaf and blind girl, how to understand the world, and became an inspiration for teachers and disabled people everywhere. During her childhood, Annie faced several issues in family and personal health. She was born in 1866 in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. Her family started with Alice and Thomas Sullivan, who lived in Ireland, but emigrated...

Words: 1164 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Hellen Keller Biography

...Helen Keller may be the world's most famous ‘supercrip’. Very few people can claim to have "overcome" disability so thoroughly and spectacularly. A blind and deaf wild child at the age of 7, she became, by the time she published The Story of My Life at 22, one of Radcliffe's most successful and polished students, fluent in Latin, Greek, German, French and (not least) English--not to mention three versions of Braille (English, American, New York Point) and the manual alphabet in which her renowned teacher Anne Sullivan first communicated with her. But let me dispense with the scare quotes for a moment. Helen Keller is famous--and justly so--precisely because she did, in many respects, overcome the physical impairments of deafness and blindness, as well as the formidable social obstacles facing people with disabilities at the end of the nineteenth century. Her story retains its power to startle and inspire even now, just as Anne Sullivan's story remains among the most startling and inspiring tales in the history of pedagogy. Keller's story is also a member of the genre of disability autobiographies in which the writing of one's life story takes on the characteristics of what the philosopher J.L. Austin called "performative" utterances: The primary function of The Story of My Life, in this sense, is to let readers know that its author is capable of telling the story of her life. The point is hardly a trivial one. Helen Keller was dogged nearly all her life by the charge that she...

Words: 1765 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Hellen Keller

...Helen Keller I chose to write my paper on Helen Keller. Helen overcame disabilities to become an author, a college graduate, a political activist, as well as co-founding different organizations making her an inspiration to many people.. At 19 months old Helen Keller contracted a disease that is still mysterious today, that greatly elevated her body temperature to a point that caused her to go blind as well as deaf. On top of these disabilities, other than simple hand gestures to communicate; nobody knew how to teach Helen to read or correspond with other people. Having only really one companion to communicate the mere sixty plus hand gestures, Helen became very wild and uncontrollable having many temper tantrums and being mean to her companion Martha Washington. Education was very important to Helen, she strived to learn as much as possible starting with her first educator Anne Sullivan. “Beginning almost the minute she arrived, Anne spelled words into Helen’s hand, starting with D-O-L-L for the doll she gave as a welcoming gift. (Eldred, 1997)” As Helen began to learn the correlation between the spelling on her hand and what the object was, she became excited about learning and strived to learn as much as possible, also encouraging her to go to college. “Someday I shall go to college but I shall go to Harvard…which impelled me to enter into competition for a degree with seeing and hearing girls. (Keller, 1996)” A tip I seen that I could use toward towards...

Words: 469 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Helen Keller Letter To Her

...Helen Keller Helen was a girl with lots of smarts locked up in side of here, but she has no way to communicate them. Helen is one of the most influential people who ever walked the face of the earth. She persevered through hard ships you could never imagine, like being not just blind but also being deaf. She was born on June 27th, 1880 to Arthur and Kate Keller she was perfectly normal child. Until she was three years old, then all of that changed. She caught scarlet fever and barley escaped with her life, but lost sight and hearing in the process. But her story didn’t stop there. Growing nobody knew what to do with her; she was messy, undisciplined, and just plain spoiled. Everybody felt pity on her, and did nothing to try to correct the issue....

Words: 714 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Helen Keller Research Paper

...Lawsyn Escue Helen Keller Helen Keller was a young girl, born blind and deaf, who wanted to learn words by writing in her hand what they were. Keller had a teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, who was willing to actually teach the disabled girl. Sullivan wanted Keller to get used to her house and surroundings so she gave her a doll. Sullivan knew that teaching the young girl was going to be hard, but she never knew how much of a difference she was actually going to make. When Sullivan gave Keller the doll she spelt the word d-o-l-l in her hand and Keller got used to spelling the word. Keller started learning a couple more words soon and memorized them. In the passage Keller states “but I do know that mother, father,...

Words: 361 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Blind and Deaf

...Have you ever thought been deaf and blind? Annie Sullivan is a teacher in the story The Miracle Worker by William Gibson. When Annie first saw Helen’s family, Annie explained, “Language is more important to the mind that light is to the eyes” (Act I). Some people think that they are perfect, but they do not think about an outside world. Most of people are not really strong or they just give up to the world. When Annie was teaching Helen, Annie cried, “Helen, Helen! The bird must come out of its shell. You come out too” (Act III). Annie developed and grew up through this wonderful story, working really hard. At the beginning she was strong and determined, but Annie evolved at the end to be successful. At the beginning of the story, Annie was strong willed and determined. Annie was an orphan, her entire life. Annie lost her family but she lost her brother at the same orphanage she lived. It made Annie see how horrible it was to live that life is. So Annie did not want Helen to experience the same as she did. When Annie left the institute, she was worried that she was not prepared to teach other people. Annie had several problems with her eyes, but she had nine surgeries. It made her worried because she was not sure if the person she is going to teach would learn from her. When Annie first saw Helen, she exclaimed, “I wondered is she was bright, she is the brightest one in the house” (Act I). Annie always did the right thing to have great progress. In the middle of...

Words: 716 - Pages: 3