Helen Keller

Helen and Anne

The person I have chosen as my hero is Helen Keller. A hero, by definition, is a person who is distinguished because of a courageous ability and is admired for brave deeds and noble qualities. Helen Keller’s courage in overcoming her physical handicap of being both blind and deaf, of attending college and obtaining a degree in higher education and then spending the rest of her life helping others with physical disabilities makes her a perfect example of a hero.

On June 27, 1880, Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama to Captain Arthur Henley Keller and his wife Kate. When she was two, she became very sick. The cause of her illness was a mystery to doctors and is until this day. Due to her illness, she lost her sense of sight and her sense of hearing. Because she could not hear, she also could not speak.

Until the age of seven, she lived in her own world due to her disabilities. Her family thought of her as a “monster”. She would have temper tantrums, scream, and throw things around the house. Her parents let her do anything she wanted and never corrected her. They did not know how to help their daughter. They sought the help of an expert and traveled to Baltimore for advice from a specialist. The specialist confirmed that Helen would never see or speak again and he sent them to a local expert, Alexander Graham Bell, who dealt with the problems of deaf children.

The Kellers were told to write to Michael Anagnos at the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind for help in finding a teacher for Helen. The woman recommended was Anne Sullivan. She had lost most of her eyesight by the age of five and had been a former student of the institution. During her stay at the institution, Anne had received two operations to her eyes, giving her enough sight to read normal print for small periods of time.

Helen was a real challenge for Anne. Not only was she trying to communicate with Helen through finger spelling she was also trying to control her bad behavior. They worked on table manners, combing Helen’s hair, buttoning her shoes and letting her know that the temper tantrums were unacceptable. Once there was a bond of trust and love between Helen and Anne Helen’s progress was astonishing. She was able to learn things that no one expected or had seen before in a person without sight or hearing

In 1900, Helen Keller was the first deaf blind person to attend Radcliffe College. Anne Sullivan was with her throughout her stay. Helen graduated in 1904 with honors and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. During her lifetime she received awards, such as, The Gold Medal Award from the National Institute of Social Sciences and Americas Award for Inter-American Unity. She published several books, began a lecture tour where she spoke of her experiences, and campaigned for fundraising money for the American Foundation for the Blind.

Helen Keller was an extraordinary person who overcame many obstacles in her life. The courage she had to go out into a world that was filled with people who could see and speak and accomplish all that she did is heroic. She never felt bad for what life had dealt her. Instead she spent her life helping others with physical disabilities