The Helen Keller Story by Rev. Dave Sonmor

Helen Keller Story for Children

Our story today is about a girl called Helen. When Helen was very young, not even two years old, she became very, very sick. She was so sick that she almost died. She didn't die but she lost her hearing and her sight. Yes, she became deaf and blind.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be both deaf and blind. If you close your eyes tight, and put your hands over your ears so you cannot hear, you will have an idea what it would be like. When Helen got over being sick and was feeling well again, which took a long time, she found she couldn't do very many things for she was bumping into things and tripping on things. Her mother and father couldn't tell her where to walk or play because she couldn't hear them, and they couldn't show her because of course, she couldn't see them. Helen wanted to do things but it wasn't possible so she would get very angry and upset and would fight and hit at people. She couldn't talk because she had not learned before she was sick, so she could not tell her parents what she wanted, or what she was thinking. Her parents tried to teach her things but it was very difficult.

When Helen was about 7 years old her Mom and Dad hired a teacher to come and liver with them. The teacher had a very difficult job and tried many different ways to get Helen to understand.

If you had a friend who could not see or hear, how would you get them to do things, and learn about things? You would have to get them to use their hands to see and hear with.

That is what Helen's teacher did. She would lead her to something like a tree or a horse and she would get her to touch it so that she would get an idea of what its shape and size was. Then she would spell the word that represented the object in the palm of Helen's hand. Well, she did this for months and months, and Helen did not seem to understand what was happening, although she loved going out for walks with her teacher and touching the leaves and flowers and buildings and animals. And she was feeling much more contented and happy. Then one day Helen's teacher was trying to teacher her how to spell water but she wasn't having much luck with it. So she took Helen out into the yard where there was a water pump and she pumped water onto Helen's hands and arms and face and head, and she kept spelling the letters W-A-T-E-R- in the palm of Helen's hand. All of a sudden, just like a miracle, Helen realized that the letters being made on her hand meant the stuff that was being washed over her arms and face. Then she understood that all the other things her teacher had been spelling on her hand represented the things that the teacher had gotten her to touch. From that time on Helen learned very fast. She had discovered what words were even though she could not see them or hear them.

When Helen got older she learned to read books that have special letters that are called braille. These are made up of little bumps that can be felt with the fingers.

She later went to college and learned how to write. She wrote many books and she traveled all over the world teaching and helping other people who were blind or who were deaf. One of Helen's favorite books was the Bible, and by reading with fingers she came to know all about Jesus and she learned to love the Lord and to live by His Word. She was given several books that were written by Emanuel Swedenborg, that a friend had transcribed into Braille. She read these books with great interest and became a firm believer in the teachings of the New Church. She said that these teachings helped her a great deal in understanding the Bible and also about the nature of her spirit.

Helen's life was not wasted because she could not see and hear. Her life was very rich and very happy and productive. Her life is an inspiration to all of us to do the best we can with the blessings that God has given to us.