Helen Keller
By Quin
The Start
Helen Keller was born June 27, 1880 in the city of Tuscumbia, Alabama. When she was only 18 months tragedy struck the Keller household. Helen was then blind and deaf. When Helen was 5 she first met Anne Sullivan. Anne knew it would be a challenge teaching a blind and deaf child but she knew it would be possible.
Childhood
Helen had a limited amount of communication before she met Anne Sullivan. She knew how to throw tantrums like a proffesional. She would giggle uncontrollably when happy. When she was around 7 she started throwing tantrums over nothing. Her only friend Martha Washington wanted nothing to do with her after that.
Anne Sullivan's Struggle
Anne Sullivan began teaching young Helen in 1887. At first the two were like arch enemies. Anne wanted a peace treaty but was pushed away every time she tried. So the two went to war. The more tantrums Helen threw the more Anne worked to calm her down. It got so bad Anne demanded isolation from the rest of the family. There she tried teaching Anne words like water. She made the connection of the spout and the word. By that night young Keller leaned thirty other words.
Determination
By 1890 Helen entered a school. This school was a speech school for the deaf. She was determined to get through. It took her 25 years to learn a language others could speak. She also attended Wright- Humanson school to work on her communication.