Helen Keller's Sickness

One reporter once wrote about Helen Keller acknowledging the fact, “Of all the blind and deaf-mute children, Keller of Tuscumbia, Alabama, is undoubtedly the most remarkable. It is no hyperbole to say that she is a phenomenon. History presents no case like hers” (Lash 80). Keller’s childhood sickness caused her to become blind, deaf and mute. Yet, she bravely disregarded all expectations by learning how to read braille, write and talk. She became an activist for the disabled. Keller’s story can inspire many to overcome adversity because of the fact she defied expectations by overcoming her disabilities to live a successful life.

Before her sickness, Keller lived a simple, joyful life and showed signs of great intelligence. Keller was born

Keller could easily learn how to sign the words. However, she could not realize that each word has a particular meaning for an object. For instance, Keller would sign the word doll, however she did not comprehend what doll meant (Devillier 16). Shockingly, one day when Keller kept confusing the word mug and water, Sullivan and Keller “went on a walk and someone was pumping water. Anne placed Helen’s hands under the sprout and Annie spelled into the word water” (Lash 55). Therefore, while Keller’s hands were under water, she discovered the mystery of language, which was everything had a name and each name meant something. Because Keller learned everything had a meaning, it allowed her to achieve unimaginable

Her teacher remarkably taught Keller how to talk. She even was able to write multiple books. She earned the respect of many of the prominent people of her day, for instance, “Alexander Graham Bell, Emma Goldman, and Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt were admirers” (Wexler 1). She even joined the Socialist party and opposed wars especially World War One (1). In addition, she, “Helen was committing herself to various causes, whether it was woman’s suffrage, syndicalism, socialism, Bolshevism, or Francis Bacon” (Lash 533). She would campaign for the rights of the disabled, “her activism helped establish braille as a global language” (Wexler 1). In addition, she helped raise thousands of dollars for the “American Foundation for the Blind” by giving speeches to crowds of people (Devillier 23). Also she meets with lawmakers “to establish a national system of libraries for the blind” (Wexler). Keller’s life proves to be a great