The Amazing Life of Helen Keller

Helen Keller - Early Childhood

Helen Keller was born June 27, 1880. She was a beautiful child; active, alert, healthy, and happy. She was already saying a few words at the age of 18 months. A month later the unthinkable happened. She had a high fever which caused her to become blind and deaf. She was suddenly plunged into a world of darkness. She clung to her mother's skirts in order to find her way around the house. She would feel of people's hands to find out what they were doing. She enjoyed anything tactile, as this was her only way of learning now. Her mother would let her knead the bread as she prepared the meals.

In order to recognize a person, she would need to feel of that person's face or their clothing. To communicate with her family she made up signs with her hands. She had 60 different signs that she used to make her needs known to them. She would pretend to cut a loaf of bread, and they knew she wanted bread. To communicate her wish for ice cream she would hug her shoulders and shiver as if she were cold.

She was such a bright child and became frustrated in her attempts to communicate with her family. She would become upset and throw temper tantrums. Her parents didn't know what they were going to do. How could they reach their child who could neither see nor hear them?

Anne Sullivan

Alexander Graham Bell recommended a teacher for Helen Keller. That teacher was Anne Sullivan who had also been blind, but an operation had restored her sight. She understood Helen's needs. She told the family she would need to teach Helen in a place separate from the family, and they provided a house in which they could stay. Over a period of time she began to make progress with the child. She taught her the signs for the letters of the alphabet. Then she would spell the words into Helen's hand. Helen however had no concept of the meaning of it all.

One day when they were at the water pump and as Anne pumped water over Helen's hand, she spelled the word "water" into her hand. Over and over she did the same thing, then in a moment of enlightenment Helen connected the word with the event that was happening to her. Once this connection was made, Helen was eager to know the name of everything around her. That one word had opened up the world to her.

She ceased having tantrums as she began to connect with the people around her. Anne Sullivan stayed with her during her childhood and adult years for a total of 50 years.

Helen Keller - formal education

Anne taught her to read Braille which is a system of writing for the blind which uses raised dots to represent the letters of the alphabet. When she went to college, Anne her teacher went with her. They would both attend the classes and Anne would tap out the words of the instructor into Helen's hand. Because of her limitations, Helen developed other senses to a greater degree. She was dependent on her sense of touch for learning. She had an amazing memory and extraordinary skills. She could put her fingers to a person's lips and understand what they were saying.

While she was in college she wrote her autobiography. She called it "The Story of My LIfe". She used the proceeds from her book to buy a house in which she and Anne lived.

World Fame

Helen Keller became famous throughout the world for her accomplishments. She traveled around the world and met many well-known and important people. She met with presidents and world leaders.

The death of Helen Keller

Helen lived nearly 88 years and died on June 1, 1968