Helen keller was born 1880She was from Alabama in the USA and she was both blind and deaf. When Helen was only 1 year old, she had a terrible illness which left her unable to see or hear.  When she was 7, Helen's family admitted that they needed help and they found a tutor for her, Anne Sullivan.Anne, who had very poor eyesight herself, was very strict with Helen. She started to teach her to spell out words with her hands. She also learnt to understand what her teacher was saying by feeling her mouth when she spoke. When Helen was 20, she went to university, where she began to write her first book, 'The Story of My Life'. She graduated in 1904, becoming the first deaf-blind person to get a degree.Helen wrote a lot of books and essays, gave lectures around the world and worked hard to raise money for and improve the living conditions of the blind.