Helen Keller Research Paper

1483 Words6 Pages

On June 27, 1880, Helen Adams Keller was born a healthy daughter to Arthur H. Keller and Kate Adams Keller. Helen was born with the ability to see and hear until she was nineteen months old. She was then struck with an illness that doctors couldn't identify. It is plausible that Helen had developed illnesses called "scarlet fever" or "meningitis". As a result of the illness, Helen came down with an extremely high fever that costed her her eyesight, hearing and ability to speak. Despite Helen Keller being disabled, she accomplished more than people with her same disabilities did in her time. After discovering Helen’s condition, her mother, Kate Keller, sought out help. Members of the family suggested that Helen should …show more content…

With the help of her companion, Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller first learned how to communicate. Since disabled people experienced immense prejudice, they usually never learned how to communicate. However, Helen learned and understood many ways of communication, such as finger-spelling, touch-lip reading, Braille, speech, typing, and writing. After grasping the ways of communication, Helen moved onto education. Disabled people in her time rarely received an education and did not attend college. However, Helen graduated with honors and became the first deaf and blind person ever to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Once receiving an education, Helen put it to use by becoming an author. Since disabled people did not have the privilege of learning how to write, they were not able to write a book or become an author. However, Helen wrote and published 12 books and many articles throughout her lifetime. In her later life, Helen became an advocate for foundations that benefited the disabled and began tours around the world. In Helen’s time, the disabled were closed off and isolated from society. However, Helen was praised and accepted by society after she proved that disabled people could still accomplish extraordinary things despite their