Essay on Helen Keller: Helen Keller was a prominent author, teacher, political activist, and the world’s first woman to graduate from the arts of the blind. On June 27, 1880, Helen Keller was born in Alabama, USA. Helen Keller’s father’s name was Arthur Keller, a member of the Army, and his mother’s name was Kate Adams.
Essay on Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She had two younger siblings and two older half-brothers. Arthur H. Keller was her father and Kate Adams was her mother.
Helen was born with the ability to see and hear. When she was 19 months old, she developed an illness called ‘a severe congestion of the stomach and the brain’. The illness left her both deaf and blind. At that time, she was able to communicate somewhat with Martha, the six-year-old daughter of the family cook. Martha understood her signs. By the age of seven, Helen had more than 60 signs to communicate with her family.
In 1886, young Helen with her father went to seek advice from physician J. Julian Chisholm. He was an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist. Chisholm discussed her case to Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with deaf children. Bell advised them to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind. The school’s Director asked 20-year-old former student Anne Sullivan to become Helen’s instructor.
Anne herself was visually impaired. This was the beginning of a 49 years long relationship between Anne and Helen. Anne began to teach Helen to communicate by spelling words into her hand. She began with the word ‘do-1-1′ for the doll that she had brought Helen as a present.
Helen was determined to communicate with others. She learned to speak and spent much of her life-giving speeches and lectures. She learned to hear people’s speech by reading their lips with her hands.
In 1912, Helen joined the Industrial Workers of the World. She wrote for them and expressed her concern about blindness and other disabilities. 12 books written by her were published. Several articles were also published. At the age of 22, with the help of Sullivan, Helen published her autobiography, The Story of My Life.
Due to hard work and efforts, Helen Keller went on to become a famous personality. She was a great speaker and an author. She is remembered as a strong supporter of people having disabilities. In 1915, she founded an organization named ‘Helen Institute International Organization’. This organization is devoted to research in vision, health, and nutrition.
ALSO READ: