# A blind, deaf female writer...? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192 "2002-07-16T05:29:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/1 "2002-07-16T05:29:39Z")
I think I read about a woman who was born deaf, blind and maybe also paralysed(?) who wrote about how wonderful the world was. I think it was quite poetic what she wrote - about trees or something. Some of those details I said might be incorrect… so does anyone have any idea who this could be - since I’d like to find out more information about her. (I think she is female…) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/2 "2002-07-16T05:31:28Z")
Helen Keller? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/3 "2002-07-16T05:44:19Z")
[Helen Keller](http://www.afb.org/braillebug/helen_keller_bio.asp)? I figured everyone knew about her, but then I realized that I _am_ from Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/4 "2002-07-16T05:45:13Z")
[Time Magazine - Helen Keller](http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/keller01.html) Yeah… that looks like her… she became blind and deaf at the age of 19 months. I guess it would be hard to teach her language if she was too paralysed as well. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/5 "2002-07-16T05:55:03Z")
Actually, she wrote a lot about Communism and it’s eventual world triumph. They don’t talk much about that part of her life in schools, though ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/6 "2002-07-16T07:31:25Z")
it’s = it is its = that which belongs to it ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/7 "2002-07-16T07:45:51Z")
A good place to start is with _The Story of My Life_, by Hellen Keller and Anne Sullivan. It is available online from Project Gutenberg: Click me-- you _know_ you want to. I don’t think you’re allowed to get through elementary school in North America without writing at least one book report on it. The part that sticks in my memory is… [digs through e-text] > [@](#): > > “I wish to write about things I do not understand. Who made the earth and the seas, and everything? What makes the sun hot? Where was I before I came to mother? I know that plants grow from seeds which are in the ground, but I am sure people do not grow that way. I never saw a child-plant. Little birds and chickens come out of eggs. I have seen them. What was the egg before it was an egg? Why does not the earth fall, it is so very large and heavy? Tell me something that Father Nature does. May I read the book called the Bible? Please tell your little pupil many things when you have much time.” And of course, simply “Water! Water” although I think that was pretty strongly reinforced by the obligatory film. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/8 "2002-07-16T10:40:11Z")
AFIK, Helen Keller was not paralyzed at all. She learned to read and everything through touch, and I’m pretty sure she could walk. Jman ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/9 "2002-07-16T14:35:00Z")
She was definitely not paralyzed - she was blind, deaf, and mute, although she did learn to speak eventually. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/10 "2002-07-16T15:29:53Z")
missbunny, a deaf person who was mute? I never met one. Only mute people I met were hearing. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/11 "2002-07-16T17:33:02Z")
Helen Keller certainly was not mute. She was beginning to speak as a small child before going deaf, and later in life learned to speak again. She never had any physical problem that prevented her from speaking. ---
**Author:** ![xicanorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@xicanorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xicanorex)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/12 "2002-07-16T18:38:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* > \*\*Actually, she wrote a lot about Communism and it’s eventual world triumph. They don’t talk much about that part of her life in schools, though \*\* Though I am not sure if she was a communist or a member of the CP, as far as I know she was a member of the old Socialist Party of America (now the SPUSA). XicanoreX ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/13 "2002-07-16T19:56:44Z")
I think I was mistaken on the meaning of “mute.” She was learning to speak at the time she went deaf but being only a very small child, she obviously didn’t have a complete vocabulary. I believe that after becoming deaf she forgot or lost part of her speaking ability, since she couldn’t hear anymore and was only developing language skills when she did become deaf, and therefore lost the ability to speak normally, but she did develop this skill to a much higher degree later in life. But I don’t think she ever was able to talk in the regular way; I think she always sounded as a deaf person who learns to speak sounds. I hope that doesn’t sound insulting to anyone; I don’t mean to denegrate her achievement or that of any deaf person who learns to speak. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/14 "2002-07-16T20:28:15Z")
How was she at pinball? ---
**Author:** ![Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smashed_Ice_Cream)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/15 "2002-07-16T20:37:43Z")
**handy** my deaf brother is also mute. He does not talk - not just doesn’t, he can’t because of physical reasons. We’re deaf because my mother had chicken pox. No, they aren’t synonomous, but they aren’t mutually exculsive, either. [sub]from our good friend [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com)[/sub] mute adj. mut·er, mut·est Refraining from producing speech or vocal sound. Often Offensive. Unable to speak. Unable to vocalize, as certain animals. That said. Hellen Keller was prelingually deafened - she didn’t have (full) language skills before she lost her hearing, but learned to speak later in life. (don’t worry **missbunny** , I can’t speak for all deaf people, but everyone I know is aware our voices are different.) And I’m quite sure you meant no insult. I paid $150 on Ebay for a program with her autograph. She was quite an amazing lady. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blind-deaf-female-writer/119192/16 "2002-07-16T20:45:55Z")
Helen Keller is my personal hero. A lot of the choices I’ve made in my life were made because of her example. I even have her [New York Times obituary](http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0627.html) in my favorites list. (That link might require free registration at the NY Times.) She was an absolutely brilliant woman, whose accomplishments as a writer, speaker, and humanitarian would have been impressive even if she could see and hear. She was also a Socialist and a Swedenborgian (follower of Christian mystic Emanuel Swedenborg). _The Story of My Life_ is a great introduction to Helen Keller, although it was written when she was only 22, and so covers only a tiny fraction of her life (she lived to be 87 and died in 1968).