Blind and Deaf? Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia Alabama. When Helen was 18 months old she was ill with “Brain Fever.” This sickness caused her to lose her hearing and sight. Her disabilities caused Helen to have anger problems, throwing tantrums and screaming. Her family cook Martha Washington, created a type of sign language to communicate with Helen. By the time Helen was seven they had already made 60 different ways to communicate with each other. In 1886 Alexander Graham Bell was working with deaf children and agreed to meet with Helen and her family. Bell wanted her to go to Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. At the institute Helen met with Anne Sullivan, a former graduate who soon became her teacher. Anne Sullivan was the spark that ignited Helen’s early career. Sullivan was teaching Helen in alabama where she grew up. Anne started teaching her finger spelling. …show more content…
Keller was introduced to the famous writer Mark Twain once she was known throughout public. Later, Twain introduced Helen to Henry H. Rogers who paid her to attend Radcliffe college. With the help of Anne Sullivan she was able to attend classes without any trouble. While she was at Radcliffe she had mastered several ways of communication. Touch-lip reading, Braille, speech, typing, and finger spelling were just some of the methods she had learned. In 1903 she published her first autobiography “Story of My Life” with the help of Anne Sullivan and John Macy, Anne’s soon to be husband. Many people were inspired by her story, Helen once said “Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows”. Helen graduated from Radcliffe College at the age of 24 in 1904. She lived with Anne and John after they got married and she resumed to learn from her mentor. Anne and John soon separated but never got divorced, some think this happened because of Anne spending so much time with