Helen Keller was born on 27th June 1880 in Tuscumbia in Alabama. Her father, Arthur H. Keller, was a descendent of Caspar Keller who was a native of Switzerland. He was a captain in the confederate army. Helen’s mother was Kate Adams who was Arthur’s second wife and was many years younger. At the age of nineteen months, Helen became very ill with brain fever. When the fever subsided, Helen was left blind and deaf forever. Helen was quite eager to learn. Despite her handicap she had learnt some crude signs of communication and also how to fold the clothes etc. later, she showed exceptional capabilities for learning and very soon could learn to read, write or even speak. She had voracious passion for learning, knowledge and exploration.  

Like Wordsworth, she learnt to find solace in nature and its peaceful serenity. Her power of observation was commendable. How beautifully she has described the details of her observations! Even those with eyes and ears cannot describe as beautifully as she has done. Natural beauty was abundant around her house. The Keller homestead was quite near a rose- bower. Its old fashioned garden was the paradise of her childhood. Before Miss Sullivan's arrival, this garden was the place where Helen went to find comfort and hide her hot face in the cool leaves and grass. Helen felt extremely happy in that garden of flowers, wandering happily from spot to spot. She could recognize each vine and plant by touching them.  

Helen was a prodigy child since her early childhood! However, the challenges she faced were quite arduous---as if Nature had planned a special obstacle course for her to help her bring her best out! After being rendered blind and disabled in hearing and speaking, Helen's frustration to learn more and more about life mounted very high. Her hearing disability combined with visual disability made the teaching and learning more challenging. Helen was a very industrious girl; she always did her best to learn. She had such a natural, innate passion for learning which always motivated her. Manual alphabet, reading, arithmetic, etc., all were formidable challenges for her initially, but Helen overcame them. The most arduous of all of them was learning to speak. Learning to speak is almost an impossible task for those who have hearing disability. So Helen had to work very hard. She had to repeat each word and sentence many times for the right tone and pronunciation. She practiced untiringly. At times she became discouraged and weary too, but she never gave up. She faced all the difficulties courageously. Her courage and perseverance are source of inspiration for all mankind!

Miss Sullivan

Miss Sullivan was an extraordinary teacher. She touched the depths of Helen's soul and brought light to her darkened world. She was a teacher at Perkins Institute. Mr. Anagnos offered her a teaching job to teach Helen. She was partially blind and had undergone treatment for the same. This was the reason she could understand Helen's needs so well.

The day she arrived at Helen's house, Helen called that day the most important day of her life. Helen compared the arrival of her teacher to the shining of 'light of love' in her darkened life.

 Miss Sullivan took unprecedented pains to teach Helen manual alphabet. Since Helen was suffering from hearing as well as visual disabilities, Miss Sullivan really had to work very hard to teach Helen the alphabet. Initially Helen did not accept all her explanations, techniques and methodology, but after Miss Sullivan won Helen’s confidence, Helen had complete faith in her.  Miss Sullivan understood Helen thoroughly. She knew how to make things clear to her. Whether it was teaching her the difference between ‘w-a-t-e-r’ and ‘m-u-g’ or teaching her the word ‘d-o-l-l’ for both the dolls, Miss Sullivan knew the methodology.

Helen praises Miss Sullivan in the following words: "Thus I learned from life itself. At the beginning I was only a mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them. When she came, everything about me breathed of love and joy and was full of meaning." It was Miss Sullivan's genius, her sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of Helen's education so beautiful. Miss Sullivan made learning easy and fun-filled for Helen.

Miss Sullivan stood by Helen during her challenges and ordeals. When the dark clouds of Frost King Incident darkened her already dark world, she stood by her as light; at Cambridge school, she worked very hard to help Helen cope up with the stress of the academics. Even at Radcliffe College she tried to lessen Helen’s hardships.