Helen Keller Helen Keller became both blind and deaf after suffering a nearly fatal illness at 19 months

of age. Seemingly sentenced to a life of isolation, Helen made a dramatic breakthrough at the age of six, when she learned to communicate with the help of her teacher, Annie Sullivan. Unlike many disabled people of her era, Helen refused to live in seclusion; instead, she achieved fame as a writer, humanitarian, and social activist. Helen Keller was the first deafblind individual to earn a college degree. Helen Keller was born June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama to Captain Arthur Keller and Kate Adams Keller. Captain Keller was a cotton farmer and newspaper editor of a weekly local newspaper, the North Alabamian. and had served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Kate Keller was twenty years his junior. Helen was a healthy child until she became seriously ill at 19 months. Stricken with an illness that her doctor called "brain fever," Helen was not expected to survive. After several days, the crisis was over, to the great relief of the Kellers. However, they soon learned that Helen had not emerged from the illness unscathed -- she was blind and deaf. (Historians believe that Helen had contracted either scarlet fever or meningitis.) Within a few days after the fever broke, Keller's mother noticed that her daughter didn't show any reaction when the dinner bell was rung, or when a hand was waved in front of her face. Keller had lost both her sight and hearing. As Keller grew into childhood, she developed a limited method of communication with her companion, Martha Washington, the young daughter of the family cook. The two had created a type of sign language, and by the time Keller was 7, they had invented more than 60 signs to communicate with each other. Although Helen learned basic household tasks and could communicate some of her desires

through a series of signs, she did not learn language the way other children do. But Keller had become very wild and unruly during this time. She would kick and scream when angry, and giggle uncontrollably when happy. She tormented Martha and inflicted raging tantrums on her parents Frustrated by her inability to express herself, Helen Keller frequently threw tantrums, which often included breaking dishes and even slapping and biting family members. When Helen, at six years old, tipped over the cradle holding her baby sister, Mildred, Helen's parents knew something had to be done. Well-meaning friends and relatives suggested that she be institutionalized, but Helen's mother resisted that notion. Soon after the incident with the cradle, Kate Keller came across a book written several years earlier by Charles Dickens about the education of Laura Bridgman. Laura was a deaf-blind girl who had been taught to communicate by the director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. For the first time, the Kellers felt hopeful that Helen could be helped as well. In 1886, the Kellers made a trip to Baltimore to visit an eye doctor; that trip would bring them one step closer to getting help for Helen. Helen Keller Meets Alexander Graham Bell During their visit with the eye doctor, the Kellers received the same verdict they had heard many times before. Nothing could be done to restore Helen's eyesight. The doctor advised the Kellers that Helen might in some way benefit from a visit to Alexander in Washington, D.C. Known as the inventor of the telephone, Bell -- whose mother and wife were deaf -- had devoted himself to improving life for the deaf and had invented several assistive devices for them. He was working with deaf children at the time.. Bell met with Keller and her parents, and suggested that they travel to the Perkins Institute for

the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. There, the family met with the school's director, Michael Anaganos. Alexander Graham Bell and Helen Keller got along very well and would later develop a lifelong friendship. Bell suggested that the Kellers write to the director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind -where Laura Bridgman (now an adult) still resided. After several months, the Kellers finally heard back. The director, Michael Anaganos had found a teacher for Helen; her name was Annie Sullivan. Annie Sullivan Arrives Helen Keller's new teacher had also lived through difficult times. Born in Massachusetts in 1866 to Irish immigrant parents, Annie Sullivan had lost her mother to tuberculosis when she was eight. Unable to care for his children, her father sent Annie and her younger brother, Jimmie, to live in the poorhouse in 1876. They shared quarters with criminals and the mentally ill. Young Jimmie died of tuberculosis only three months after their arrival, leaving Annie grief-stricken. Adding to her misery, Annie was gradually losing her vision to trachoma, an eye disease. Although not completely blind, Annie had very poor vision and would be plagued with eye problems for the rest of her life. When she was 14, Annie begged visiting officials to send her to school. She was lucky, for they agreed to take her out of the poorhouse and send her to the Perkins Institute. Annie had a lot of catching up to do. She learned to read and write, then later learned Braille and the manual alphabet (a system of hand signs used by the deaf). After graduating first in her class, Annie was given the job that would determine the course of her life -- teacher to Helen Keller.

Without any formal training to teach a deaf-blind child, 20-year-old Annie Sullivan arrived at the Keller home on March 3, 1887. It was a day that Helen Keller later referred to as "my soul's birthday."1 A Battle of Wills Teacher and pupil were both very strong-willed and frequently clashed. One of the first of these battles revolved around Helen's behavior at the dinner table, where she roamed freely and grabbed food from the plates of others. Dismissing the family from the room, Annie locked herself in with Helen. Hours of struggle ensued, during which Annie insisted Helen eat with a spoon and sit in her chair. She began by teaching Helen finger spelling, starting with the word "doll," to help Keller understand the gift of a doll she had brought along. Other words would follow. At first, Keller was curious, then defiant, refusing to cooperate with Sullivan's instruction. When Keller did cooperate, Sullivan could tell that she wasn't making the connection between the objects and the letters spelled out in her hand. Sullivan kept working at it, forcing Helen to go through the routine. She didn't understand why her teacher would make her touch an object and make shapes with her hands. In order to distance Helen from her parents (who gave in to her every demand), Annie proposed that she and Helen move out of the house temporarily. They spent about two weeks in the "annex," a small house on the Keller property. Annie knew that if she could teach Helen self-control, Helen would be more receptive to learning. Helen fought Annie on every front, from getting dressed and eating to going to bed at night. Eventually, Helen resigned herself to the situation, becoming calmer and more cooperative. Now the teaching could begin. Annie constantly spelled words into Helen's hand, using the manual alphabet to name the items she handed to Helen. Helen

seemed intrigued, but did not yet realize that what they were doing was more than a game. Helen Keller's Breakthrough On the morning of April 5, 1887, Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller were outside at the water pump, filling a mug with water. Annie pumped the water over Helen's hand while repeatedly spelling wa-t-e-r into her hand. Helen suddenly dropped the mug. As Annie later described it, "a new light came into her face." Keller understood and repeated the word in Sullivan's hand. She then pounded the ground, demanding to know its "letter name." Sullivan followed her, spelling out the word into her hand. Keller moved to other objects with Sullivan in tow. By nightfall, she had learned 30 words. All the way back to the house, Helen touched objects and Annie spelled their names into her hand. Before the day was over, Helen had learned 30 new words. It was just the beginning of a very long process, but a door had been opened for Helen. Annie also taught her to how to write and how to read Braille. By the end of that summer, Helen had learned more than 600 words. Fame for Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan Annie Sullivan sent regular reports on Helen Keller's progress to the director of the Perkins Institute. He released Helen's story to the press, making Helen and Annie famous overnight. The public was captivated by Helen's accomplishments, although some newspapers greatly exaggerated her capabilities, claiming that she played piano and could distinguish colors by touch.

Helen was frequently photographed for the newspapers. Annie made certain that the photographs were always taken of Helen's right profile because her left eye protruded and was obviously blind, whereas Helen appeared almost normal on the right side. On a visit to the Perkins Institute in 1888, Helen met other blind children for the first time. She returned to Perkins the following year and stayed for several months of study. This was Anne Sullivans old school, and a world-famous institution for the education of blind children. Anne went through school with her, interpreting and transcribing books into Braille for her. In 1890, Keller began speech classes at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston. One of her earliest pieces of writing, at age 11, was The Frost King (1891). There were allegations that this story had been plagiarized from The Frost Fairies by Margaret Canby. The two stories were so much alike in thought and language that it was evident Miss Canby's story had been read to her. An investigation into the matter revealed that Keller may have remembered Canby's story read to her but forgot about it, while the memory remained in her subconscious. Mr. Anagnos, who loved her tenderly, thought that he had been deceived. She was brought before a court of investigation that composed of the teachers and officers of the Institution. Then she was questioned and cross-questioned

CHARACTERS 1. Helen Keller

Helen Keller (18801968) was born with sight and hearing, but after she suffered a serious illness in 1882, she became deaf and blind. Her parents, desperate to help her, brought Helen to Alexander Graham Bell. Bell realized that Helen could learn, and he told her parents to contact Mr. Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Anagnos sent Annie Sullivan, a former student, to teach Helen at her home in Alabama. Annie Sullivan taught Helen manual sign language and that words represent objects. Helenlearned how to read Braille and to speak. She eventually graduated from Radcliffe College. Despite being blind and deaf it was clear that Helen had a remarkable gift for communication. She learned to read and write Braille, and to read lips by feeling the shapes and vibrations formed by peoples mouths as they speak. Accompanied by Annie Sullivan, Helen became a world traveler and an advocate for the blind and deaf; she lectured to raise money for social causes and published books. Helen met every U.S. president from Grover Cleveland to John Kennedy. In 1964, after her retirement from public life, Helen received the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2. Annie Sullivan Macy

Annie Sullivan Macy (18661936) became Helen Kellers teacher in 1887. She stayed with her student for the rest of her life. When Annie was almost ten years old, she was sent to live in a poorhouse, in Massachusetts. A childhood infection harmed her eyesight, so in 1880she entered Perkins Institution for the Blind. After several operations, her eyesight improved, but

remained weak. She learned the manual alphabet to communicate with a deaf and blind girl at the school named Laura Bridgman. Later, Helen Kellers mother read about Bridgmans success at learning and contacted the school to acquire a teacher for Helen. Annie, then went to Helens home in Alabama. For the next thirteen years, she taught Helen and helped her prepare for college. In 1900, she accompanied Helen to Radcliffe College, where she met John Macy. Annie and John married in 1905. In 1924, Annie and Helen began working for the American Foundation for the Blind, traveling throughout the world to lecture and raise funds.

3. Mr. Anagnos
Mr. Anagnos was the director of the Perkins Institution. He sent Anne Sullivan to the Kellers home. He and Keller became friends, and he had her sit on his knee when visited the Institution. When Keller wrote The Frost King, she sent it to him for his birthday, but because Mr. Anagnos came to believe that she intentionally plagiarized it, the friendship was forever ruined. 4. Dr. Alexander Graham Bell Dr. Alexander Graham Bell first met Keller when she was six years old and her parents brought her to him for advice on how to teach her. Dr. Bell remained a friend to Keller and Anne Sullivan and accompanied them on a trip to the Worlds Fair. As a child, Keller sensed Bells tender disposition, as she notes in chapter three, Child as I was, I at once felt the tenderness and sympathy which endeared Dr. Bell to so many hearts, as his wonderful achievements enlist their admiration. The Story of My Life is dedicated to him.

5. Sarah fuller
She was born in Weston, Massachusetts and became principal at the newly formed Boston School for Deaf-Mutes. The school staff were trained in the skill of teaching deaf children how to speak byAlexander Graham Bell. In 1890, Miss Fuller applied the methods she learned and developed from Bell in giving the first speech lessons to Helen Keller. The children were taught to speak by touching their teacher's cheek and feeling vocal vibrations.

Extra Notes s
HER FIRST EXPERIENCE AT SEA There is no sense of fear and Helen makes for the water without hesitation. The experience, which fills her with " an exquisite, quivering joy" is short-lived and she slips and goes under, momentarily terrified because "the good, firm earth" that Helen has a grasp on is gone and she feels helpless in the "all-enveloping" environment. Fortunately, Helen is pushed back to land and rescued by Ann Sullivan. Her terror does not last long and she recovers from her ordeal and loves being by the sea, hearing and feeling the dash and roar of the rushing sea!" Helen catches a horseshoe crab and takes it home. She is disappointed when it escapes but does realize that it has probably and hopefully - returned to the sea. The most surprising thing about Helen Keller's autobiography is how literate she is. The most enjoyable aspect of The Story of My Life is her passion for books. She discusses her favorite classics which she read in English, Greek, Latin, French and German.

Another noteworthy aspect of The Story of My Life is that if you ever feel sorry for yourself for what you don't have or what you are currently struggling with, your deficiencies and struggles may suddenly seem minor in comparison to Helen's.