A Special Child's Touch
a true story
Helen Keller, as a child, began an amazing
journey that lasted a lifetime. She helped lead the way that many would
follow. It all began a long time ago…
Helen was diagnosed with a disease when she
was 19 months old. The disease left her deaf and blind. She lived in a
dark world, unable to see or hear anything.
A teacher was sent from Perkins Institute named
Anne Sullivan. She was to help Helen understand that things had names.
When Anne came she brought Helen a doll. At first Helen threw the doll
down. Anne tried to teach her it was a doll by finger movements, now called
sign language.
Helen had no discipline before Anne came as
a teacher. At first Helen was very difficult to teach. However, Anne did
not give up.
One day the door opened and Helen discovered
things had names that could be expressed with signs and sounds. She learned
to say water, bread, and milk. She continued to learn more words.
There was so much to learn now. Helen was eager
to learn even more.
Later, she learned to read using raised dots
that she could feel. This is called Braille, a special way for the blind
to read and write.
Helen Keller was once asked, “Which is the
most difficult problem, being deaf or being blind?”
She replied, “Being deaf is the most difficult.
Blindness shuts you away from things, but deafness can shut you away from
people.”
It can be very lonely not having anyone to
talk to. People, such as my Uncle Wesley who is deaf, are very proud of
what Helen Keller did. Thanks to Helen Keller my Uncle and I can talk to
each other. We are not shut off from each other. She made sign language
and Braille popular tools for opening a new world for the deaf and blind.
She made it possible for others to know that children with special
needs can learn and are very valuable to our world. She really made a big
difference.
It all began when she was just a child, but
her example can still help us today.
The End
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