Helen Keller
(aka Emily B.)

Hi! My name is Helen Keller. I just used sign language to communicate with you because I'm deaf-blind. I wasn't always deaf-blind. Before I turned two, I came down with a very high fever that caused me to lose my sight and hearing. As a child, I was very frustrated that I could not communicate and I threw tantrums all the time.

I was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama on June 27, 1880, but my life really began when I was seven years old and a teacher named Annie Sullivan came to live with me. She showed me how to talk with my fingers, how to read Braille, and how to write down words on a special tablet for the blind. I also learned how to put my fingers on person's lips and understand the words they were saying.

When I was twenty years old, I went to college. Anne would attend classes with me and tap the words into my palm. I was the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college and I graduated with honors. During my college years I began to write books and articles about blindness, deafness and social issues.

My most important work was raising money to improve the lives of those who are blind and deaf-blind. Because of my work, there are now more books available in Braille, books on tape, and job conditions are improved for the blind. There is also an organization in my name that works all around the world to prevent and cure eye disease.

I traveled all over the world meeting the blind and I tried to understand what they really needed. In 1964, I was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon Johnson. This award is given to people who do great things to help others. I lived a very rewarding life and at the age of eighty-seven, I died quietly in my sleep. I am Helen Keller.

Return to "BIOGRAPHY" Home Page