Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1897-01-28
HELEN KELLER.
The Manner In Which She was rsusht
to Speak and to Read Speech.

The Manner In Which She was rsueA,
| to Speak and to Read Speech.
Helen Keller is a household name
both in America and foreign lands.
She is blind as well as deaf. That
the walls Of silence and darkness
which shut her from the world have
been broken down, that hor soul has
been set free and the seal Of silence
taken from her lips, seems miraou-
lous to those who know not how it
was done. The limits Of this article
will permit only the briefest out
line of her story.
Rendered both deaf and blind at
10 months by severe illness. she
passed the first seven years Of her
life in silence, darkness and igno-
rance. Who could have suspected the
exquisite soul imprisoned In that
mute and darkened bodya A bright,
patient, loving woman came, and
the miracle began.
There was only one possible ave-
nue. Of approach to the beleaguered
soul. The sense of touch remained.
and to that the teacher, Miss Annie
ID. Sullivan, addressed her efforts.
Through finger spelling the child at
length obtained the Idea of Ian
guage, and with this key other doors
could be unlocked. Having natural
ly fine mind, she learned rapidly
when once started and developed a
phenomenal memory.
While Helen received information
only through spelling and in limited
amount, she never forgot. To tell
her something was like writing it
ina a book. When you wished the
fact again months or even years aft
erward, you had only to ask for it.
But later, as she began to read books,
to meet more people and to receive
Impressions through more channels
and in larger numbers, her memory
ceased to be 80 absolutely reliable.
Until she was II years of age her
only means Of communication was
by finger spelling. Then, at her own
urgent request, she was given les
sons in speech by Miss Fuller, prin-
cipal Of the Horace Mann school.
The rapidity with which she acquir-
ed the ability to speak was unprece-
dented. She soon abandoned finger
spelling as means of expression
and has ever since used speech alone.
But others still had to communi-
cate with her by their fingers. She
then expressed strong wish to
learn to read the lips by touching
them with her fingers. For the pur-
pose of attempting this difficult +ask
and tn get special nlinins in spssoh l
she came to the Wright-numason
school in New York city. During
the two years that she remained
there she succeeded in acquiring the
power Of understanding people when
they spoke to her, and at the same
time pursued regular courses Of
study In arithmetic, history, physi-
cal geography, French and German.
She has read much of the best liter
ature and is very intelligent on the
topics Of the day Her own speech
is now excellent, and she has enter
ed girls school in Cambridge,
Mass, where she is taking course
preparatory for Radcliffe college.
When being spoken to, she places
her index finger lightly upon the
lips, while the other fingers rest
upon the cheek, the middle one
touching the nose. Her thumb is
upon the larynx. This position gives
her the greatest possible informa-
tion concerning the elements of
which speech is composed.-John
Dutton Wright in Century.