A Girl Named Helen

A New World Opens

Once Helen learned the alphabet, she could communicate with her parents. Anne spelled what her parents said into Helen’s hand. Helen would spell but she wanted to say back. Anne would use the world outside as Helen’s classroom. They studied, and Helen learned what happened when a seed was planted in the ground by feeling it grow a little bit every day.

By the summer of 1887, Anne gave Helen a few pieces of cardboard with letters of the alphabet written in raised lettering. Helen touched the words and learned what they said. Anne also taught Helen how to write with a grooved wooden writing board. A piece of paper was placed over the board and Helen used the grooves to guide her pencil and form letters.

Months after Helen learned the alphabet, she began learning to read using the system for the blind called Braille. Anne was proud of her student. She wrote letters to the director of the Perkins Institute about Helen’s progress. Her letters eventually led to stories about Helen in the newspapers. Helen was slowly becoming famous.