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__ Life is either a daring adventure or nothing’.”-by Helen Keller __. Helen Keller was the oldest of the 2 daughters of father, Arthur H. Keller and mother, Katherine Adams Keller. She also had two older stepbrothers. It is written that her father (Arthur H. Keller) was a proud officer in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Her family was not very wealthy and they earned money by growing and selling wool.

Helen was born with great senses of sight and hearing. She started speaking at the age of 6 months and could walk and communicate when she was one. However in 1882 Helen became very ill that the family doctor called as ‘brain fever’ that produced a high body temperature.. Within a few days after the fever went down, Helen's mother noticed that her daughter didn't show any reaction when the dinner bell was rung, or when a hand was waved in front of her face. At the age of 18 month Helen Keller had lost both her sight and the ability to hear. Helen had become very wild and unruly during this time. She would kick and scream when angry and giggle uncontrollably when happy. She tormented Martha and inflicted raging tantrums on her parents.Looking for answers and inspiration, Helen's mother came across a travelogue by Charles Dickens titled "American Notes" in 1886. There she read of the successful education of another deaf and blind child, Laura Bridgman. The family went to Baltimore, Maryland to see a special doctor Dr.j.julian Chisholm he recommended she see Alexander Graham Bell,, who was working with deaf children .Bell then introduced Helen and her family to the Perkins Institude for the blind.The school director Michael Anaganos suggested she to work with on of the recent graduates, Anne Sulivan.

She began by teaching Helen finger spelling, starting with the word "doll help Helen understand the gift of a doll she had brought. Other words would follow. At first, Helen was curious, then defiant. She refused to cooperate with Sullivan's instruction. As Helen's frustration grew, the tantrums increased. Finally, Sullivan demanded that she and Helen be isolated from the rest of the family for a time so that Helen could concentrate only on Sullivan's instruction. They moved to a cottage on the plantation. In a dramatic struggle, Sullivan taught Helen the word "water" and, in doing so, helped her make the connection between the object and the letters. Sullivan had taken Helen out to the water pump and placed Helen's hand under the spout.Thus their 49 years of teacher and pupil relationship begins.Later on she teaches a college for the blind and deaf.

I have chosen Helen Keller as my hero/role model because she gives a light to life.NO one is helpless.