Helen Keller

She could not see, she could not hear, but she was able to read, write and make new friends. Amazing, isn't it? Helen Keller was nearly two years old when she got extremely ill with scarlet fever. The deadly cold caused Helen to lose her ability to see and hear. From then on, Helen was confused in a world with nothing but silence and darkness. It was like entering a different world with completely new rules, and Helen got frustrated. As the years went by, Helen's parents knew they needed help. By the time Helen was seven, her parents hired a tutor.

Anne Sullivan was a recent graduate of Perkins University. Nearly blind herself, Anne taught Helen how to spell words with her hands. It was known as American Sign Language (ASL). Helen had trouble understanding what the words meant; she did not understand that everything has a name until one day at the water pump.

"Anne led Helen to the water pump and began to pump water into her hands. Anne spelled out the letters W-A-T-E-R as it ran over Helen's hand. Anne did it over and over again. At last, it dawned on Helen that the word "water" meant the water which she felt pouring over her hand. This opened up a whole new world for her. Helen ran everywhere asking Anne the names of different things and Anne would spell out the words into her hand. This was the key, which unlocked the world for her. Helen eventually stopped having tantrums. Anne taught Helen for many years. Soon Helen learned how to read Braille. This is a system of raised dots representing letters a blind person could read by touch."

When Helen went to Radcliffe College, her teacher Anne went with her and tapped out the words of the instruction into her student's hand. Helen had an amazing memory, and she also had skills very few peope have ever been able to develop. Helen could put her fingers to a person's lips and understand the words which were being spoken. While Helen was in college she wrote her book called The Story of My Life. With the money she earned form the book, she bought a house. Helen became famous and traveled around the world speaking to groups of people. She met many important and well-known people such as Mark Twain and Charlie Chaplin as she traveled.

Helen Keller was successful because of her determination. Helen's success gave others hope. Helen wrote books to tell people not to tease or hurt people who had disabilities because they were not any different from themselves. If it weren't for Helen Keller, deaf and blind students wouldn't have the educational opportunities that are available today. Helen's life was so different from others, but she accomplished so much.