who was Helen Keller for kids can you imagine what it would be like to not be able to see and not be able to hear it would be super frustrating to try to communicate right today we are going to talk about the remarkable life of a woman named Helen Keller and how she became one of the most inspirational people in history Helen Keller was born in Alabama on June 27 1880 with full sight and hearing but when she was just 19 months old she got sick with a terrible fever which left her deaf and blind
as a young child Helen had trouble communicating with others and would become angry and frustrated she had not learned to speak before she was sick and so she would use special motions to show what she wanted her parents knew that she needed special help this is how Ann Sullivan came into Helen's life Anne was once blind herself but her sight came back after a surgery after living through her own experience and knew that she would be able to help Helen live a full life here is an interesting fact Anne Sullivan was Helen's Helper and companion
for over 50 years starting from when Helen was just six years old one of Anne Sullivan's nicknames was The Miracle Worker because of the success of her teaching so how did Anne Sullivan help Helen Keller learn to communicate first she started by teaching Helen words using Helen's sense of touch tracing one letter at a time Helen would repeat the tracing movement in Anne's hand Helen learned how to read using a special reading system for the blind called Braille Braille uses letters made from little bumps you have probably seen Braille letters before either at school or
in other public places by the age of 10 Helen was not only able to read she could use a typewriter too Helen had another teacher a woman named Sarah Fuller who helped her learn how to talk Sarah used the vibrations of words on her own lips to teach Helen how to speak Helen learned how to feel sound vibrations and also learn how to move her lips to make her own sounds pretty amazing right by the time she was 16 years old Helen Keller was already in college she went to Radcliffe college for women in Massachusetts
and Anne Sullivan went with her helping Helen to listen to her College lectures by signing the teacher's words into Helen's hands in 1904 Helen graduated college with honors becoming the first deaf and blind person to do so while Helen was in college she began writing about her experiences being deaf and blind and these stories were published in magazines they eventually would be published into books so there were many people who read these stories and became interested in her remarkable life when Helen got older she wanted to help others like her she joined an organization called
the American foundation for the blind and traveled around to give speeches and raise money for the foundation she also volunteered to visit wounded soldiers during World War II encouraging them to never give up throughout her life Helen Keller was an advocate for others living with disabilities especially those who were deaf and blind during her travels she met American Presidents like Grover Cleveland and Lyndon Johnson the author Mark Twain and Alexander Graham Bell the inventor of the telephone she also wrote a book called teacher in honor of her teacher Ann Sullivan Helen Keller died in 1968.
just a month before her 88th birthday now that we have learned about the amazing and remarkable life of Helen Keller let's see what you remember true or false Helen Keller was born deaf and blind false she did not become deaf and blind until she was 19 months old fill in the blank and blank was Helen Keller's teacher and companion for over 50 years Sullivan what is the name of the special reading system for the blind that uses raised bumps in the place of letters Braille true or false Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind
person to graduate from college that's true great job friends Helen Keller led a unique life that was filled with challenges yet through the help of teachers and friends like Ann Sullivan Helen was able to not only lead a good life but an extraordinary one the next time you are faced with the challenge that seems overwhelming remember Helen Keller and that even under the most difficult circumstances we are capable of great things hope you had fun learning with us visit us at learnbrite.org for thousands of free resources and TurnKey solutions for teachers and homeschoolers [Music]