Illustrations by Chris Danger
Helen Keller
She believed in a better future and opportunities—for everyone!
In 1887, 6-year-old Helen Keller was angry and acting out. Keller had lost her sight and hearing after an illness as a baby. She wasn’t able to learn to listen and talk like other kids. Keller was frustrated because she couldn’t communicate with her family.
Needing help, her parents contacted the Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts. The school sent teacher Anne Sullivan. With her help, Keller would learn to communicate with her family—and the world!
A Big Moment
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Helen Keller
At first, Sullivan couldn’t communicate with Keller. She tried spelling names of things with her fingers on Keller’s hand. But Keller didn’t understand what the letters meant.
One day, Keller held one hand under flowing water. Sullivan spelled out the letters W-A-T-E-R in her other hand. In a major breakthrough, Keller made a connection. She understood that words were names of things.
Keller later wrote, “That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free.” That first day, Keller learned 30 words.
In 1900, Keller went to college. There she used braille, one way blind people can read and write.
Even better at communicating now, she began sharing her life story. At the time, women didn’t write about blindness or deafness. Keller wanted to change that and wrote her first book in 1903.
Changing the World
Keller continued writing, and her articles appeared in popular magazines. She also traveled the country with Sullivan. She spoke about challenges that women and people with disabilities face in the workplace and at home. Everyone should have equal rights, she said.
“Her life shows what it was like to advocate for herself and others,” says Jennifer Arnott, who works at the Perkins School.
When inspiring people around the world, Keller often pointed to herself as an example.
“I do not like the world as it is,” Keller wrote, “so I am trying to make it a little more as I want it.”
