Anne Sullivan

Anne Sullivan (1866–1936) was an American teacher best known for instructing Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind from infancy.

Sullivan herself was visually impaired.

Her breakthrough method—spelling words into Keller's palm while the child touched objects—famously succeeded at a water pump, where Keller grasped that the finger-spelled letters meant the water flowing over her hand.

Sullivan remained Keller's companion and interpreter for nearly fifty years.