Helen Keller
Helen Keller was an American author and activist who became deaf and blind as an infant.
Her education by teacher Anne Sullivan—learning to communicate through touch—made her internationally famous as a symbol of triumph over disability.
She graduated from college, wrote extensively, and advocated for the blind and for socialist causes.
Her name sometimes appears in jokes or expressions about obliviousness: What, are you Helen Keller?
Forming letters by hand
- BrailleTouch-based dot writing
- lip readingVisual speech interpretation
- speech therapyTreatment for communication disorders
- touchPerceiving through physical contact
Anne Sullivan · hand-over-hand · water pump · first word · language acquisition · expression · voice · articulation
- tutorIndividual instruction provider
- studentOne formally enrolled somewhere
- scholarshipEducational funding or erudition
- learningGaining knowledge gradually
Braille · curriculum · literacy · graduation · academic · degree · intellectual · discipline
Unable to hear
- blindLacking the sense of sight
- sightlessUnable to perceive visually
- silentProducing no sound
- darknessTotal absence of light
isolation · fever · illness · tactile · sensory · perception · touch · smell
Self-penned life narrative
- memoirWritten personal recollection
- writerCreator of texts
- essayistAuthor of short prose
- lecturerOne who teaches formally
published · correspondence · letters · Anne Sullivan · journals · narrative · prose · articles
Public cause supporter
- suffragistVoting rights advocate
- reformerAgent of institutional improvement
- socialistProponent of collective ownership
- pacifistAnti-violence believer
ACLU · NAACP · disability rights · women's suffrage · labor rights · social justice · civil rights · humanitarian
Source of creative impulse
- perseveranceSustained resolve despite obstacles
- determinationFirmness of purpose
- courageFortitude facing danger
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
role model · pioneer · trailblazer · icon · hero · achievement · overcoming · hope
finger spelling
Forming letters by hand
- BrailleTouch-based dot writing
- lip readingVisual speech interpretation
- speech therapyTreatment for communication disorders
Anne Sullivan · touch · hand-over-hand · water pump · first word · language acquisition · expression · voice · articulation · comprehension
Anne Sullivan
- tutorIndividual instruction provider
- studentOne formally enrolled somewhere
- scholarshipEducational funding or erudition
learning · Braille · curriculum · literacy · graduation · academic · degree · intellectual · discipline · study
deaf
Unable to hear
darkness · isolation · fever · illness · tactile · sensory · perception · touch · smell · vibration
autobiography
Self-penned life narrative
lecturer · published · correspondence · letters · Anne Sullivan · journals · narrative · prose · articles · speeches
advocate
Public cause supporter
- suffragistVoting rights advocate
- reformerAgent of institutional improvement
- socialistProponent of collective ownership
pacifist · ACLU · NAACP · disability rights · women's suffrage · labor rights · social justice · civil rights · humanitarian · equality
inspiration
Source of creative impulse
- perseveranceSustained resolve despite obstacles
- determinationFirmness of purpose
- courageFortitude facing danger
resilience · role model · pioneer · trailblazer · icon · hero · achievement · overcoming · hope · empowerment
- blindnessblindness, blind spot, total blindness, partial blindness, low vision
- notable womenRosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Florence Nightingale, Susan B. Anthony
- AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama, Montgomery, Huntsville, Mobile
- HumanitariansMother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.
- Deafnessdeaf education, deaf awareness, deaf rights, deaf culture, deaf pride
- blind serviceswhite cane, Louis Braille, guide dog, guide dogs, braille alphabet
Helen KellerAnnie Oakley
Babe Ruth · perfect vision · eagle-eyed · keen hearing · Mozart
Helen Kellerquitter
One who surrenders
defeatist · tragic figure · cautionary tale · fatalist · trust fund baby
Hellenistic, Helena, Helen, Hellenic, Helene, Keller, Hellenism