She read of the successful education of another deaf and blind child, Laura Bridgman, and soon dispatched Keller and her father to Baltimore, Maryland to see specialist Dr. Looking for answers and inspiration, Keller's mother came across a travelogue by Charles Dickens, American Notes, in 1886. A young woman named Polly Thomson, who had begun working as a secretary for Keller and Sullivan in 1914, became Keller's constant companion upon Sullivan's death. In 1932, Sullivan experienced health problems and lost her eyesight completely.

Keller worked with her teacher Anne Sullivan for 49 years, from 1887 until Sullivan's death in 1936. Many family relatives felt she should be institutionalized. She tormented Martha and inflicted raging tantrums on her parents.

She would kick and scream when angry, and giggle uncontrollably when happy. By the time Keller was 7, they had invented more than 60 signs to communicate with each other.ĭuring this time, Keller had also become very wild and unruly. The two had created a type of sign language. Within a few days after the fever broke, Keller's mother noticed that her daughter didn't show any reaction when the dinner bell was rung, or when a hand was waved in front of her face.Īs Keller grew into childhood, she developed a limited method of communication with her companion, Martha Washington, the young daughter of the family cook. The true nature of the illness remains a mystery today, though some experts believe it might have been scarlet fever or meningitis. In 1882, she contracted an illness - called 'brain fever' by the family doctor - that produced a high body temperature. Keller lost both her sight and hearing at just 19 months old. Keller was born with her senses of sight and hearing, and started speaking when she was just 6 months old. Later, Arthur became the editor of a weekly local newspaper, the North Alabamian. The family was not particularly wealthy and earned income from their cotton plantation. Keller's father had served as an officer in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

Keller was the first of two daughters born to Arthur H. Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. During her lifetime, she received many honors in recognition of her accomplishments. Beginning in 1887, Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, helped her make tremendous progress with her ability to communicate, and Keller went on to college, graduating in 1904. Stricken by an illness at the age of 2, Keller was left blind and deaf. Helen Keller was an American educator, advocate for the blind and deaf and co-founder of the ACLU.

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller