HELEN KELLER

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com

Although there are a number of famous people who were blind, Helen Keller is by far one of the more well known. Most people are familiar with her story from early childhood and the illness that left her both deaf and blind, but less are familiar with her later life that included contributions to the field of blindness that continue to impact people with visual impairments today. Her story is one of overcoming overwhelming odds and becoming an inspiring person for many.

Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Helen was born with the ability to see and hear, but when she was 19 months old, she contracted an illness that is speculated to have been scarlet fever or meningitis. It was simply referred to as "an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain". Mrs. Keller had heard of the successful education of another woman who was deaf and blind named Laura Bridgman. The Keller's sought advice from Dr. J. Julian Chisolm in Baltimore who referred them to Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with children who were deaf. Bell in turn referred them to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. The school's director, Michael Anagnos, asked a former student, Anne Sullivan, to become Helen's teacher.

Anne Sullivan began working with Helen at the Keller's house in March 1887. She began to teach Helen to communicate by spelling words into her hand. Much has been written about Helen's early childhood and her tantrums and "wildness". As Anne Sullivan was able to help Helen begin to learn and understand more about her world, Helen became more cooperative. The Miracle Worker is a famous dramatic work derived from her autobiography, The Story of My Life.

In May 1988, Keller attended the Perkins Institute for the Blind. She left in 1891 after being accused of plagiarism. She had written a story called "The Frost King" and given it as a gift to the Perkins director, Michael Anagnos. It was published, but then brought to Perkins attention that it was very similar to another story that had been published. She went on to attend the Wright-Humanson School for the Deaf and the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in New York. She returned to Massachusetts to attend The Cambridge School for Young Ladies and then attended Radcliffe College where she graduated from in 1904. She became the first person who was both deaf and blind to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Helen learned to speak and spent much of her life giving speeches and lectures. She would "read" people's lips with her hands in order to "hear" what they were saying. She was also able to communicate through braille and by reading sign language in her hands.

Following graduation, Keller went on to become a world-famous speaker and author. Although I do not share all of her religious and political views (e.g. she was a radical socialist and member of the Socialist Party and followed the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a mystic and "Christian" theologian born in 1688 who believed the second coming of Jesus Christ has already taken place), I do feel she did an amazing work in respect to being an advocate for people who are blind by raising awareness of blindness and the need for preventative measures. She was instrumental in changing the public perception of people with visual impairments. She pushed for changes in the law to ensure all people were treated with dignity and respect.

She devoted much of her time to raising funds for the American Foundation for the Blind. She also founded the Helen Keller International organization in 1915. The organization is devoted to research in vision, health and nutrition. She also helped to found the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She was devoted to humanitarian efforts that included the rights of women and the rights of people with disabilities. Keller met every U.S. president from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon Johnson. Her contributions have made a significant impact on the field of visual impairments and subsequently helped many worldwide who are blind or visually impaired.

Helen Keller died in her sleep on June 1, 1968, at her home in Easton, Connecticut.

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Helen Keller International is devoted to saving the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. They combat the causes and consequences of preventable blindness and malnutrition by establishing programs based on evidence and research in vision, health and nutrition.

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TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
The TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC is a digital pdf available for download. It is designed specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), and consists of over 400 activities and topic areas of discussion for instructing students in the Expanded Core Curriculum. The activities are age-neutral and multi-sensory and therefore can meet the needs of the broad range of students served on an itinerant caseload serving. The activities can be individualized to the students various learning modalities and scaffold in order to challenge students but ensure success. Select those activities that align with the student’s learning objects based on the student’s unique visual needs and academic and developmental level. In addition to the core activity areas, each of the 32 Thematic Units incorporates additional unique ECC concepts and skills providing you with a years’ worth of activities. These units are cyclical and can be used repeatedly to help students build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of concepts. Each unit includes suggestions for activity adaptation associated with the unit. These include lists of objects, possible community-based experiences, environmental print, poems, children & young reader books, children's songs, pop culture songs, movies, and websites.


In addition to the book, the following two supplements are included:
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Concept Checklist
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Activities Checklist


For complete product details and additional images, visit the TVI's Guide product page.


TVI's Guide to the ECC Product details
·      Digital pdf download: 346 pages (11 pt font)
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements
The Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets is a Grab and Go supplement to the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC. This workbook is a pdf download that can be printed on demand for use with students. It contains five different types of worksheets for developing visual motor skills and near magnifier fluency skills particularly with the use of a video magnifier. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to each of the 32 ECC Thematic units. The worksheets, along with a list of environmental print for each thematic unit, are designed to help students refine their visual motor skills while reinforcing ECC concepts presented in the thematic units.  


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Product Page.


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 210 pages
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement
The Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Grab and Go ECC worksheet packet is a print on demand workbook that contains worksheets in print and simulated braille to use for data collection. Present the student with a hard braille copy and use the worksheets to document accuracy and fluency in reading braille. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. These word lists and sentences will help the student refine their keyboarding or braille reading skills while bridging ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Although the lists and passages can be produced using a manual braillewriter, you may also copy and paste the passages into any braille translation software for quick production on an embosser. They may also be entered into a typing program such as APH’s Talking Typer to build keyboarding fluency.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency & Maintenance Product Page


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 338-page print and simulated braille worksheets
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement
The Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Grab and Go ECC supplement is a 446 page pdf downloadable print on demand workbook that includes 2940 vocabulary card on 3 1/2" x 2" templates divided by each of the 32 Thematic Units along with a checklist of each unit words in print and simulated braille. As a companion to the TVI's Guide to the ECC, the vocabulary cards correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. 


Additional Use:
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments can have a extremely varied caseloads. It is possible to go several years without having a student on your caseload who requires braille instruction. Like other skills, if you do not practice your braille regularly, it is easy to lose those skills. Use these checklists and cards to maintain your braille skills. Fold the checklist along the line dividing the print from the braille. Choose to either read the print and produce the word in braille using a braillewriter or read the simulated braille and decode it. Finally, these vocabulary cards and checklists may be used with family members or peers who are interested in learning and practicing the braille code.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Vocabulary Cards & Checklists Product Page


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 446-page print on demand resource
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


BONUS!
Lotto Cards
The LOTTO Cards Grab and Go Supplement includes 37 theme related unit cards along with activity suggestions that support activities within the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC.


On My Way File Folder Cards
Print and use these cards to represent locations the student may visit that are related to the current thematic unit. Use these with the On My Way File Folder Game outlined in the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC p. 27.

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