Ellie (age 5) tells her sister Sophie (age 7) the inspirational story of Helen Keller who overcame deafness and blindness.----more----

Helen Keller is born 150 years ago to a family in Alabama. At 18 months she was struck down by an illness and left deaf and blind. Unfortunately, this also means that she could not really talk because she could not hear or see anyone to copy and learn from. As she grew up Helen Keller was increasingly frustrated at not being able to communicate properly. This made her naughty and people did not know what to do with her.

But already there were signs of something remarkable happening. She started to communicate with signs to a friend. Then the famous inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, recommended a tutor for her. That tutor was called Anne Sullivan. Anne started using finger spelling to teach her different words. At first Helen Keller did not understand what Anne meant. But when her hands were under a water tap, while Anne was writing the words water, it all suddenly clicked. Helen Keller realised what Anne was trying to teach her. That day it was as if a new world opened up for her. She learned 30 words that day alone. Then she learned braille and learned to read. Then a different tutor came and taught her how to talk from feeling people’s mouths and the vibrations they made. Helen Keller even went to university and was the first deaf and blind person in the world to get a degree.

As Helen Keller grew up she became an inspiration to millions. She even helped other people like helping get women the vote and helping soldiers who had been wounded in World War Two. They even made films about Helen Keller’s life. Sadly, she was not able to marry which was one of the great regrets of her life.

When Helen Keller died she was buried with her life long friend, Anne, who had taught her finger spelling all those years before.

Ellie really wanted to tell this story as she has a book all about Helen Keller and found her story truly amazing.

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