Helen Keller by Ashley N.

People have overcome adversity at least once in their life. Like Jesse Owens faced segregation but he overcame it. Even Albert Einstein had a learning disability had overcome adversity. But we are going to read about someone who faced a big adversity, also known Helen Keller who was deaf and blind. 

To begin, Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama on June 27,1880. She wasn’t an only child because she had four siblings. She caught an unknown illness when she was 19 months old. The doctors described this unknown illness as “an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain”. In “Early Childhood and Illness” in paragraph 3 of afb.org the author said, “Which might have been meningitis caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis or possibly haemophilus inflenzae. Other possible infections were rubella or scarlet fever.” The doctors were trying to guess the possibilities of how Helen caught the unknown illness. The illness had left Helen deaf and blind. In paragraph 4, “At that time, Keller was able to communicate somewhat with Martha Washington, the two-years-older daughter of the family cook, who understood her signs; by the age of seven, Keller had more than 60 home signs to communicate with her family, and could distinguish people by the vibration of their footsteps”. Even though she was deaf and blind, Helen had ways to communicate with her family and could recognize people by feeling the person’s vibration of their footsteps.

Next, on March 3, 1887 someone named Anne Mansfield Sullivan came to Tuscumbia to become Helen teacher. Anne is blind or she suffered from serious vision problems. In “When Did Helen Keller Meet Anne Sullivan” on paragraph 5, “Anne believed that the key to reaching Helen was to teach her obedience and love. She saw the need to discipline, but not crush, the spirit of her young charge.” Which means Anne thinks the best way to teach Helen was with love and compliance. Anne also needed discipline but didn’t want to crush Helen’s spirit. So, Anne asked permission to take Helen out of her main house and to live in a nearby cottage. They stayed there for two weeks. Anne started teaching Helen by manually signing into Helen’s hand. Then Helen started to learn to form letters in the correct order and spelled words that she didn’t know existed. In “What were Helen Keller’s First Words” on paragraph, “Helen quicky proceeded to master the alphabet, both manual and in raised print for blind readers, and gained facility in reading and writing.” Helen and Anne’s amazing abilities or unique skills were then noticed by Alexander Graham Bell and Mark Twain who were two giants of American culture. Helen was then accused of plagiarism or copying at the age 11, but Bell and Twain defended both Helen Anne.

Lastly, when Helen was young, she wanted to go to college. In “Helen Keller’s Education and Literary Career” on paragraph 1, “In 1898, she entered the Cambridge School for Young Ladies to prepare for Radcliffe College. She entered Radcliffe of Arts degree cum laude in 1904.” Also, Helen was the first deaf and blind person to receive a Bachelor of Art Degree. Sadly, Anne died in 1936 and Polly Thomson took her place. Polly was a secretary for Helen and Anne in 1914. Helen started her writing career when she was still a student at Radcliffe. On paragraph 5, “Helen used a braille typewriter to prepare her manuscripts and then copied them on a regular typewriter.” She wrote topics about faith, blindness prevention, birth control, the rise of fascism in Europe, atomic energy, and more topics. In 1924, she had joined AFB and worked over 40 years for the organization. In “Helen Keller’s Worldwide Celebrity” on paragraph 1, “During seven trips between 1946 and 1957, she visited 35 countries on five continents.” She even met Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Golda Meir who were world leaders. She died on June 1,1968 in Arcan Ridge and her ashes was put next to Anne and Polly in St. Joseph's Chapel of Washington Cathedral.

To summarize, Helen had faced a difficult adversity. Helen had achievements. She even inspired others who were deaf or blind. Helen had made a message of faith and strength through adversity resonating with those returning from war injured and maimed. She had to work hard to get where she is today. She had help facing adversity, but the strength was mostly hers.