Discuss Helen Keller

About Deafness forum members discussed progress for deafblind people since the days of Helen Keller, and also about why Helen Keller is so inspirational.

"How are we doing on meeting the needs of the deafblind community since the days of Helen Keller? "
- AB_DEAFNESS

"It really depends on which deafblind community you are talking about. If you are talking about the Usher's deafblind community they have some support. However if you are talking about a child who is born with deafblind its ground zero. Why? Most are consider multihandicapped with low expectations. Or you can be in my shoes. My son is legally blind with mild to moderate hearing lost. This alone under the ADA makes him deafblind. Well my son also doesn't have any speech discrimination unless he is in a silent environment. He can only hear noise. This in my book makes him deaf. We have beg the deafblind community for help and guidance, all we get is heart felt regrets. Usher's community thinks just like the hearing. He is MR and he is not like me, why help? The other deafblind community says he is not truly deafblind. So if you ask me the deafblind community needs alot of self help. I am sorry to say this but it is true in our house."
-RAVEN
"I'm trying to understand your comments - are you saying that multihandicapped deafblind get less help and support than non-multihandicapped deaf blind? "
-AB_DEAFNESS
"I am sorry for rambling but yes. We get very little help. We waited a year to have an evaluation done at Perkins. The team did not vist him at home or his own school district but they had some very definate opinions. Many of them were incorrect. One sugguest was made by the pysch.person that since he has normal hearing in his right hear he should be labeled visual impaired and hearing impaired. She also said he is functioning at the age of a 18 month old but we must be very tentive about that since my son has no language skills. Well, she has sent my son's educational program back a couple of years. I fought hard for him to have intpreter aid/tutor so he could formally learn ASL. He has taken off with ASL. I want him to have language skills. Well,the school is taking the elvation to deny my son services. Perkins, where the New England Deaf Blind Center is at tells me in does fall in the deafblind catergory but will not help me with the school district. What help is that? They seem only to want to help the truly DB.I have contacted the NADB, they have many programs for adults DB, but they seem more for the Ushers community than the multihandicapp. I feel that my son has been place in the uneducatable catergory and the experts don't have time for him. Well shame on them. In many ways my son is like Helen Keller. It is up to his family to find his Ann Sullivan. Any sugguestion?"
-RAVEN

"Who is your favorite historic deaf figure? Helen Keller?.."
- AB_DEAFNESS

"I think my favorite would have to be Helen Keller. She went through so much just trying to learn to communicate, especially considering the time in which sh lived. I know it is hard enough now. But I can't even imagine how hard it must have been a hundred years ago!"
-HREID21
"My favorite is Helen Keller....As I was growing up, I have learned so much from books, movies and school plays about her. I learned to respect her and, anyone who are deaf and of course, myself."
-ANN
"I am aware of course of Helen Keller' story and her breakthrough when her teacher signed the word 'water' to her. In that conscious instant she began to transform from an almost animalistic wild state to what was later to become an intelligent articulate woman."
-ITSMARYA
"I am deaf and grew up hoh, went to hearing schools that offered no accommodations for my deafness, no deaf role models, no sign language, no hearing aids, nothing about deafness or coping with deafness other than we read about Helen Keller and they offered a hearing screening which I failed at age eight. Deafness was completely viewed from a medical perspective, an unfortunate thing that happens to other people."
-DEAFDEB

Why do you like Helen Keller? Do you think things have improved for deafblind people?