Helen Keller Facts - Blog #4

Helen Adams Keller started to misbehave when she got a little older, and had a lot of temper tantrums. Sometimes she bit or pinched others. The Keller's didn't know what to do for their daughter. The Keller's mailed out many letters to people regarding a teacher for Helen. The head of the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston replied back with an answer for them. They finally came to the plan to hire a teacher for her. This amazing 1st teacher and companion was Annie Sullivan who taught Helen how to communicate. Through this communication Helen learned how to share her ideas and feelings with the people around her. When Annie met Helen for the first time it was when Helen was 6 years old. Annie gave Helen a doll and spelled "d-0-l-l-" in her hand. At first Helen didn't know she was spelling a word, instead she thought it was a game. After a while Helen figured out that it wasn't a game and knew that the signals spelled in her hand stood for things and had names. Afterward Helen made Anne spell everything Helen touched in her hand.

Annie Sullivan her teacher was blind as a child but an operation restored her sight. When she was blind she learned braille and American Sign Language through the Perkins School for the blind.

Helen spent her life helping others, especially the the blind and deaf. She traveled around the world and raised money and helped change laws affecting the blind and deaf people. She also wrote many articles for magazines.

Helen grew up with two older brothers and a younger sister. Their mother Kate was a homemaker and their father Arthur served as captain in the civil war. They gardened vegetables, fruit and cotton , along with some farm animals.

When Helen was only six months old she could say simple one word sentences such as tea and water, but it wasn't too clear.

After Helen got sick her mother would wave her hand in front of her face and ring a bell near her, but Helen wouldn't move. That is when her mother Kate realized she was blind and deaf.

Dubois, Muriel L. "Helen Keller". 2003 by Capstone Press.