It's one of a series of outdoor sculptures commissioned by AIDB especially for people who are deaf and blind. Our school was renamed the Helen Keller School in 1980 in honor of Alabama's most famous citizen, Helen Keller. She overcame a dual challenge of blindness and deafness to become an independent, well-educated person. That's our goal here as students, too, whether we are deaf, blind or have other challenges. We come to Helen Keller School to learn to be as independent as possible, and to learn about the world.
Children come here as young as three years old.
Each student has a curriculum created especially for them, because each student has different potential and different goals. When a student arrives, a case manager and other staff meet with the parents to help design an education plan that fits. The curriculum might include remedial English, math, and other academics, in addition to independent living skills. Lots of students come here needing to learn how to dress and groom themselves, because these are skills difficult to learn if you've never learned to communicate with others. Communication skills are very important here, just like they are at other AIDB schools.