Thesis: “Disability is not inability”
Helen Keller was an exceptional American who was able to make significant milestones with her life even while suffering from two disabilities conditions.
She was deaf and blind. However, these disabilities did not stop her from making an impact on society.
Keller was known in the professional circles of authors, political activists and lecturers (Keller 1).
Helen Keller was able to achieve greater milestones in her life. “Her life was one of many hurdles that she was able to overcome and become a source of inspiration and a role model for other people to look up to.”
Hellen did not view her disability as a barrier to having a normal life which gave her the motivation of becoming a better person as well as a role model to every other person with any kind of disability.
Keller was born in a humble home with her four siblings and her parents James and Kate.
Her life challenging struggles started after that because by the time she was nine months old, she contracted an illness that left her blind and deaf.
Signs were her only means of communication with her family.
Keller’s education life was inspired by her mother Kate by the information she told regarding stories of another deaf and blind woman who was successful in her education.
Keller would attend the Perkins institute for the blind where she met Anne Sullivan, the instructor who helped mentor her through to achieve the successes of her life (Herrmann 363).
Keller was able to harness her sense of touch to unimaginable levels to help her read books and also understand what other people said by touching their lips.
She started out as a lecturer by giving lectures at Mabel Tainter Memorial Building.
Lecturing gave her the exposure needed for public speaking that led her to be an activist. She mainly advocated for the rights of people with disabilities.
The life of an author for Keller was something that she did for most of her life with her first work at the age of eleven (Berne 1879).
In her entire life, she was able to write twelve publications. Before her death, her medical condition deteriorated with multiple strokes attacks. She would meet her unfortunate death in 1968 (Koestler 87).
Conclusion
Keller lived a very productive life despite her limitations and people with similar conditions can learn to follow her example and aspire for more out their lives. Hence, people should understand that being disable does not mean you are unable to do what physically health people do.
Works Cited
Berne, Emma Carlson. Helen Keller: Courage in Darkness. New York: Sterling, 2009. Print.
Herrmann, Dorothy. Helen Keller: A Life. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Print.
Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2009. Print.
Koestler, Frances A. The Unseen Minority: A Social History of Blindness in the United States. New York: AFB Press, 2004. Print.
