HELEN KELLER

EARLY CHILDHOOD

Very Smart As A Child

Could say words "How'de do, tea, and water.
Pretty soon was able to take care of household duties

ILL WITH SCARLET FEVER

Had when very young.
Doctor said had a severe congestion of stomach and brain
Laying in bed for several days, fever went down

Deaf and Blind

After illness, parents discovered she was death and blind.
Eyes hurt, feeling dry and hot.
Her half brother James lifting her into the light, but she started to cry.
Mother passed her hand in front of her eyes, but did not blink, realizing she is blind.
Did not flinch at dinner bell, realizing she was deaf

CONFLICTS/PROBLEMS

Still Able to Communicate When Little

Able to Move her hands and make sounds to signify what she wanted. For example, when she wanted ice cream, she would move and rotate her hands in a circle, and make a cranking sound. Also if she was dirty, she would make gurgling sounds.

DISOBEDIENT, FRUSTRATED, AND SPOILED

However, Helen's parents couldn't deny her anything, and so she had become very selfish and spoiled, and did not let anyone take anything of hers away.
She had also become very violent, almost throwing her new baby sister out of her cradle, and locking her mother inside of their glass cabinet.
In her young childhood so far, she got more curious about the world around her, but didn't know how to express her feelings, and her desire to see the world and communicate

The Coming of Annie Sullivan

To help Helen somehow control or educate her to live with being blind and deaf, and to stop her from getting out of control, her family had hired a teacher named Annie Sullivan.

The Coming of Annie Sullivan (Continued)

However, no matter how many times Annie had tried, Helen got very frustrated and threw tantrums. Once, when she got furious, she had thrown the doll Annie had given her on to the ground breaking it. Then, Annie had brought Helen to a fountain, and out her hand under. Then on that point of Helen's life, she finally knew what it felt like to feel. Then she was brought to a park, and felt a tree, and she was finally able to experience the world around her.

The Rise to Fame

For the rest of her childhood, Helen learned how to use her other senses to find her way around the world. One example was when using braille, a way of writing for the blind. With that as she grew up, she used that for the rest of her life, graduated college, and became a famous author.

Inspiration Today

The story of Helen Keller, a blind and deaf girl, curious to find out the world around her, had done what everyone thought was impossible. As she graduated college, writing books, and speaking to others, she became a role model for everyone in the world. That no matter what, with any condition anyone is in, you can always overcome challenges, just like she had did.

VOCABULARY

• Magnolia:(n) The blossom of any shrub or tree
• Opium:(n) The dried, condensed juice of a poppy.
• Quarantined:(n) A strict isolation to prevent spread of disease.
• Poultices: (n) A soft, moist, mass of cloth.
• Bereavement: (n) A period of mourning after a loss.