Rebecca Manzi Anne Sullivan was the teacher of Helen Keller, a deaf and blind child. His method consisted of tracing words on his hand while having it touch the corresponding object
@Wikipedia
Johanna Mansfield Sullivan Macy, commonly known as Anne Sullivan, is most famous for being the teacher and tutor of Helen Keller, the renowned deaf-blind writer and activist. Born in 1866 to Irish immigrant parents in the United States, Anne experienced a tough childhood. She caught trachoma, an illness that severely impaired her eyesight, at age five.
After her mother’s death and abandonment by her father, Anne was brought to an orphanage with her younger brother, who sadly passed away soon afterward. Anne refused to change her life and was granted entry to the Perkins School for the Blind, where she received a rigorous education and manual sign language, a valuable tool for her later career as a teacher.
After graduating in 1886, Anne was faced with a daunting challenge: educating Helen Keller, a girl who was blind and deaf since the age of 19 months and lived in a world without communication and discipline. Anne arrived at the Keller home in 1887 and started straight away the daunting task of instructing Helen to communicate.
Anne and Helen were inseparable for life
Anne’s method was to trace words onto Helen’s hand but also to have her touch the object that corresponded. For weeks, Helen mimicked the movements without knowing what they signified. Then came a breakthrough: when water dripped over her hand, Anne traced the word “water” on her other hand.
Helen realized on that day that everything had a name, and learning was happening at breakneck velocity. She mastered hundreds of words, Braille, and simple mathematics in the following months. With Anne Sullivan’s unyielding support, Helen proceeded to college and graduated with honors from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard in 1904, becoming the world’s first deaf-blind person to gain a college degree.
Anne and Helen were close friends for their entire lives, publishing books together and advocating for disabled individuals through public speaking. Anne was married to professor John Macy in 1905, but the marriage was not long-lasting. Over time, she gradually lost her sight and eventually lost nearly all of her eyesight.
Anne died in 1936, leaving a legacy of determination and educational ingenuity. The relationship between Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan ranks among the greatest education tales ever told—an awe-inspiring account of how determination, patience, and ingenuity can conquer even the most monumental obstacles.
