Helen Keller
Born in 1880 - Died in 1968
Helen Keller at the age of 19 months, (not quite 2 years old) was a happy,
healthy child. She was already saying a few words.
Then she had a high
fever which caused her to become deaf and blind. No longer could she see
nor hear. She felt lost. She would hang on to her mother's skirt to get
around. She would feel of people's hands to try to find out what they were
doing. She learned to do many things this way. She learned to milk a cow
and knead the bread dough.
She could recognize people by feeling of their faces or their clothes.
She made up signs with her hands so she could "talk" to her family. She
had 60 different signs. If she wanted bread, she pretended to be cutting a
loaf. If she wanted ice cream, she would hug her shoulders and shiver.
Helen was a very bright child. She became very frustrated because she couldn't talk. She became very
angry and began to throw temper tantrums.
The family knew they had to
do something to help her.
They found a teacher named Anne Sullivan. Miss Sullivan herself had been
blind, but had an operation and regained her sight. She understood
what Helen was feeling.
She taught Helen the signs for the letters of the alphabet. Then she
would "spell" the words in Helen's hand to communicate with her.
Helen and her teacher Anne Sullivan
One day Anne led Helen to the water pump and pumped water on her hand.
She spelled the letters W-A-T-E-R as the water ran over Helen's hand.
She did this over and over again. At last it dawned on Helen that the
word "water" meant the water which she felt pouring over her hand. This opened
up a whole new world for her. She ran everywhere asking Anne the name
of different things and Anne would spell the words in her hand. This
was the key which unlocked the world for her.
She eventually stopped having the tantrums. Anne taught her for years.
Helen learned to read Braille. This was a system of raised dots representing
letters. A blind person could read by feeling of the dots.
When she went to college, her teacher Anne went with her and tapped out
the words of the instructors into her student's hand.
Helen had an amazing memory, and she also had skills very few people
have ever been able to develop. She could put her fingers to a person's
lips and understand the words which were being spoken.
While she was in college she wrote her book called "The Story of My Life".
With the money she earned from the book she was able to buy a house.
She became famous and traveled around the world speaking to groups of
people. She met many important and well-known people as she traveled.
Helen Keller was successful because of her determination. However, many
people helped her. The most important person in her life was Anne Sullivan
who stayed with her for 50 years.
This biography by Patsy Stevens, a retired teacher, was written in 2001.
Activities
Other Activities
Play an Online Game at Quia
Dictionary
From
Word Central's Student Dictionary
by Merriam - Webster
(Pronunciation note: the schwa sound is shown by ə)
frustrated, frustrate
Pronunciation: 'frəs-"trAt
...to prevent from achieving a goal...
tantrum
Pronunciation: 'tan-trəm
Function: noun
: a fit of bad temper
communicate
Pronunciation: kə-'myoo-nə-"kAt
Function: verb
... : to transmit information, thought, or feeling so that it is
satisfactorily received or understood ...
braille
Pronunciation: 'brA(ə)l
Function: noun
Usage: often capitalized
: a system of writing for the blind in which letters are represented by raised dots [named for Louis Braille who developed the system]
Research Links
Helen Keller Archival CollectionAmerican Foundation for the Blind
My Own Bookspersonalize an online story about Helen Keller
by inserting your name in the story
Braille Bugchildren can learn about Braille at AFB
Helen Keller Birthplace
Helen Kellerbiography with audio version (part 1)
Helen Kellerbiography with audio version (part 2)
Helen Keller (audio)
Engines of Our Ingenuity.
Helen Keller Lesson PlanLesson Snips.com
You must register to use any of the lessons. Limited free lessons.
A Poem by Helen Keller
Helen Keller worksheets
English Lesson Plan on Helen Keller
The Story of My Lifeonline book by Helen Keller
Videos
Listen to
a Book about Helen Keller
There are many deafblind people in the world. There are 22,000 in Japan alone.
Satoru Fukushima who lives in Japan lost his right eye's sight at age three, then
left at age nine. He also lost hearing when he was 18 years old. He
became a professor at the University of Tokyo Highly-Advanced Science and
Technology Research Center.
He and his mother invented the way to communicate by using fingers, the
fingering Braille. It works like a Braille typewriter. His mother or an
interpreter hit Satoru's finger the same way as typewriting.
(We say "Thank you" to a friend "chitoron" in Japan for sending us this information.)
Books
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Helen Keller
Library
A LIBRARY OF
ONLINE BOOKS and BOOK PREVIEWS
Order the following books from Amazon.
The Story of My Lifeby Helen Keller (public domain, 1921, full view)
Order
here
The World I Live Inby Helen Keller(public domain, 1920, full view)
Order
here
The Gordon ReadersBy Emma K. Gordon (public domain, 1914, full view)
Johnson's Fourth ReadersBy Henrietta H. Richardson, Nannie Clements, Louise Manly, Blanche Wynne Johnson,
Eugene Cunningham Branson (public domain, 1899, full view)
Order
here
The Wide Awake Fourth ReaderBy Clara Murray (public domain, 1913, full view)
Order
here
Helen KellerBy Elizabeth MacLeod, Andrej Krystoforski (selected pages)
Order
here
Helen KellerBy David A. Adler (selected pages)
Order
here
Helen Keller, Photo-illustrated BiographiesBy Muriel L. Dubois (selected pages)
Order
here
To Love This Life: Quotations of Helen KellerBy Helen Keller (selected pages)
Order
here
Helen KellerBy Christy Devillier (selected pages)
Order
here
Helen Keller: Out of a Dark and Silent WorldBy Sandra H. Shichtman (selected pages)
Helen Keller, In the Hands of a Child, Project Pack(selected pages) Order
here.
Helen Keller, Courage in DarknessBy Emma Carlson Berne, Marie Hodge (selected pages)
Order
here
Always Happy or the Story of Helen KellerBy Jennie Chappell (selected pages)
Order
here
How I Would Help the WorldBy Helen Keller (review)
Order
here
Helen Keller: rebellious spiritBy Laurie Lawlor (selected pages)
Helen Keller: Courageous AdvocateBy Scott R. Welvaert, Cynthia Martin, Keith Tucker (selected pages)
Lives and Times Helen KellerBy Emma Lynch (selected pages)
Miss Spitfire: reaching Helen KellerBy Sarah Miller (selected pages)
A Picture Book of Helen KellerBy David A. Adler, John C. Wallner, Alexandra Wallner (selected pages)
Helen KellerBy Jane Sutcliffe (selected pages)
Helen Keller, History Maker BiosBy Jane Sutcliffe (selected pages)
Credits and Solutions
Pictures courtesy of
Wikimedia Commons, and Corbis.com.
Puzzles on these pages courtesy of
Songs of Praise and
Armored Penguin
* Word Match Solution
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