Question

Name and biography of miracle worker woman

Answer 1

Saturday, March 3, 2012, marks the 125th anniversary of Helen Keller meeting Anne Sullivan, the "miracle worker", who would change her life and set her on the path toward becoming one of the most remarkable women of all time. Struck by what's believed to have been scarlet fever as an infant, Helen Keller was both blind and deaf by the age of 19 months. Having uttered a few simple words and heard sounds as an infant, being blind and deaf made her feel isolated, causing her to often throw fits and tantrums. After schools for the blind refused to admit her, the Kellers sought the help of inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who had spent the prior decade working with the deaf and experimenting with hearing devices. He then suggested they contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind, who sent one of their students, Anne Sullivan, to work with Helen Keller. Sullivan arrived at the Keller's home in Alabama on March 3, 1887. She brought Helen a doll as a gift, but immediately began to fingerspell "d-o-l-l" into Helen's hand, hoping that she would associate the two. Over the next few months, Anne and Helen worked together nonstop, even moving into a cottage together on the Keller's property, so they could maintain focus on communication. Their lessons together often became physical and violent during Helen's frequent moments of frustration. Helen's breakthrough occurred one day at the water pump, when Sullivan poured water on one of Helen's hands while fingerspelling "w-a-t-e-r" in the other. For the first time, Helen made the association between an object and what was spelled in her hand. According to her autobiography, Helen then spent the rest of the day demanding that Sullivan spell out the words for countless other objects.