Amazing Internet Research: Helen Keller

I read Helen Keller’s biography, The Story of My Life, as a child and was inspired by her persistence in overcoming her profound handicaps. Helen was blind and deaf.

Many people have enjoyed the stage play and the movie, The Miracle Worker, about Helen Keller’s meeting with Teacher Annie Sullivan and Sullivan’s determination to turn Helen from an animal into a child with dignity. Helen was nearly seven years-old.

Even as a child, I couldn’t imagine how you would get through to a girl who had neither seen nor heard since a bout with scarlet fever at 18 months. (The only senses she had were touch, smell, and taste.)

Her mother claimed Helen was a bright child who already could talk–most notably, could say “water” as a very young child.

No one expected anything of young Helen Keller. Once she lost her sight and hearing she was effectively sealed off from her community except through touch and food.

But her mother never gave up hope.

Helen Keller: Words and books

Five years after Helen “went dark,” Mrs. Keller read Charles Dickens’ book American Notes where she learned of another deaf and blind woman, Laura Bridgman–successfully treated by the Perkins School of the Blind.

The family sought options for young Helen, even talking with Alexander Graham Bell, then doing research on deafness. Ultimately, the experts led them to Annie Sullivan who certainly worked hard for that miracle in Helen’s life.

Annie Sullivan, herself a sight-impaired former-student of the Perkins School for the Blind, saw something in Helen and worked hard in extremely difficult circumstances, to get through to Helen and ultimately teach her how to manage herself.

The play and movie demonstrate this masterfully.

Helen ultimately learned how to read in Braille, could communicate in sign language done in the palm of Teacher’s hand and eventually learned, again, how to speak.  She graduated, with Teacher’s help, from Radcliffe College, the first “blind dumb” person to do so.

The Internet steps in

Here is where the wonders of our information age truly leave me awe-struck. The other day on Facebook, a friend posted a video of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, demonstrating how Helen learned to speak.

And then we got to hear her:

I hope this is legal–I have hunted to find where it came from. Youtube did not tell me. The Smithsonian Magazine was one link on Google. The Youtube video was put up by Transforming Art.

(Transforming Art describes itself as coming out of South Korea in 2007: “A Channel with “Oldies, but Goodies” musical performances (mostly pre-WW2), and sometimes, some videos with Historical contents.”)

A friend put my feelings into words: “This is a thrill for me . . . seeing footage of one of my heroes.”

Thank you, Youtube; thank you, Google.  I marvel and thank you, Mrs. Keller, Annie Sullivan; and ultimately Helen Keller for demonstrating that faith, hope and love never fail.

A handicap doesn’t have to silence an individual. Click to Tweet

Were you familiar with Helen Keller’s story? What can we learn from her?  Click to Tweet