HELEN AS A CHILD...
Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, a small rural town in Northwest Alabama. The daughter of Captain Arthur Henley Keller and Kate Adams Keller she was born with full sight and hearing.
But Helen’s life was to change dramatically. In February 1882, when Helen was nineteen months old, she fell ill. To this day the nature of her ailment remains a mystery. The doctors of the time called it “brain fever”, while modern day doctors think it may have been scarlet fever or meningitis. However, Helen’s mother soon noticed how her daughter was failing to respond when the dinner bell was rung or when she passed her hand in front of her daughter’s eyes. The following few years proved very hard for Helen and her family. Helen became a very difficult child, smashing dishes and lamps and terrorising the whole household with her screaming and temper tantrums. Relatives regarded her as a monster and thought she should be put into an institution.