Helen Keller was a woman who accomplished much in her life. She wrote her autobiography, The Story of My Life, which detailed her experiences from infancy to her early twenties. When Helen was a little over a year old, she became very ill. Her illness left her deaf and blind. Helen's parents did not know what to do to help their daughter. She lived a very unstructured life until she was six and her parents sent for a teacher. That teacher was Ms. Sullivan, who was partially blind. Ms. Sullivan was a determined young woman. She made many attempts to teach Helen and to tame her bad habits.
One day Helen and Ms. Sullivan were taking a walk. They came by a water pump, where "some one was drawing water." They stopped and Ms. Sullivan "placed [Helen's] hand under the spout." As the water flowed over Helen's hand, her teacher spelled "w-a-t-e-r" into her palm. While her teacher did this spelling action, Helen "felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed." Helen's life changed after this moment. She became an avid lover of learning.
Helen eventually went away to school, though Ms. Sullivan remained her constant companion. She even went to college. Helen became a highly educated woman. She had many friends and was an inspiration to others. She communicated effectively and became a talented writer. Her primary means of communication continued to be the manual alphabet, which was what Ms. Sullivan taught her from the beginning.
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