1st JUNE 1968

There are certain people in the world who are just so inspirational, so dedicated to what they do, whether it be trying to make a difference or merely just being themselves, that it really makes me think there is hope for our world to one day produce such people again.

On this day in 1968, Helen Keller, who, despite being both deaf and blind, was one of the leading speakers, political activist and author of her time, died at her home in Arcan Ridge, Easton, Conneticut.

Ms. Keller was not born with impairments to her ears and eyes, instead contracting an illness when she was 19 months old, which may have been either scarlet fever or meningitis, that left her with no hearing and no sight. Whilst at first communication with her family was hard, by the time she was seven Ms. Keller had over 60 home signs to communicate effectively with.

Determined to allow her communicate with others as best as she possibly could, Ms. Keller's family employed the help of Anne Sullivan, a 20-year-old visually impaired student herself, a former pupil at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in South Boston. A 49 year partnership between the two only ended with Ms. Sullivan's death in 1936.

After learning what words to use and indeed how to have a language of her own, Ms. Keller began to learn how to speak, doing this so well that she spent much of her life giving speeches and lectures. She learned to listen to other peoples speech by reading their lips with her hands, her sense of touch being heightened as compensation for her lack of other senses.

Ms. Keller became a fluent user of Braille and reading sign language with her hands. Indeed her hands became her eyes, her ears, basically her everything.

She went on to become a world-famous speaker and author and is remembered as an  advocate for people with disabilities, a suffragist, a pacifist, a radical socialist and a birth control supporter. Many of these opinions and her understandings of the world were further explained in her 12 published books and several other articles.

In September of 1964, three years after having suffered a series of strokes and being confined to her home, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Ms. Keller the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

After her death on this day, a service was held in her honour at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. Her ashes were placed there next to her companions Anne Sullivan and Polly Thompson.

Her life has been depicted in various films, television movies, a Bollywood movie and a Broadway show.

She truly was incredible.

If you want any more information on how to support those with visual or hearing impairments visit the Helen Keller website.




Image available: http://notesforpakistan.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/helen-keller-summary.html