Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, AL. Helen wasn’t actually born with disabilities, but when she was 19 months old she caught “brain fever” making her blind and deaf. Today it would be called scarlet fever or meningitis. She and her family had a hard time with her disabilities since no one knew what to do for her. When she was six years old she was wild, running around grabbing what ever smelled good to her and throwing tantrums. Then in 1887 she and her family met Alexander Graham Bell. He suggested they go to Perkins Institute for the Blind and Deaf where they recommended Anne Sullivan as a teacher.
Anne went to live with Helen and her family in Alabama. When she tried to teach, Helen would throw horrendous tantrums. Anne thought it would be best to separate Helen from her family so she couldn’t easily get upset. Anne drove with Helen for two hours to confuse her, but they were actually living in a cottage on next door. Anne was having a hard time teaching Helen table manners, speaking, writing, and sign language. So Anne used finger spelling to say ‘water’ then ran water from a fountain over her hand. That’s were it all clicked. After many years Helen could communicate using finger spelling, lip reading, reading Braille, and writing. It took her 25 years to learn to speak.
Then in 1900, Anne stayed with Helen as she went to college. In 1904, she graduated, cum laude, from Radcliffe College with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She was the first blind-deaf person to graduate from college. After college and throughout her career she wrote 11 books about her experiences coping with her disabilities.
As she grew older Helen did a lot more with Anne at her side. They traveled to 35 countries where Helen made speeches advocating for people with disabilities. For example, she visited Australia, South America, Europe, and became very popular in Japan. She also met with 12 presidents and other famous people, such as Charlie Chaplin, Alexander Graham Bell, Mark Twain and more. She co-founded Helen Keller International to help those with blindness and malnutrition. Anne was 70 years old when she died on October 20, 1936 after spending her life beside Helen. Helen Keller died 32 years later on June 1, 1968 at age eighty-seven.
