Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week 2019: Who Is Helen Keller? Date, Theme, Significance of Day Dedicated to the Blind and Deaf Community

Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week is celebrated every year since 1984 when this national advocacy campaign was held for the first time. It was in the first year when President Ronald Reagan issued an announcement that a special week should be recognised of the woman behind the deaf and blind community development. The day is not just dedicated to Helen Keller but also the blind and deaf community. The week aims at raising awareness about deaf and blindness and also highlight the contributions of people who have this disability. International Women's Day 2018: Encouraging Quotes by 10 Popular Women That Will Motivate You For a Better Future.

Date and Significance

The year 2019 will see Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week observed from June 23rd to June 29th and the theme this year is "Making Connections With the Deaf-Blind Community." The aim of this theme is to bring the Deaf-Blind Community closer to the rest of the people. It aims at others understanding more about the Deaf-Blind Community and works towards the improvement.

Who Was Helen Keller?

The woman behind the betterment of the Deaf-Blind Community, Helen Adams Keller was also an author, political activist, and lecturer. From being the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree, Keller was an author and was outspoken in her convictions. She campaigned for women's suffrage, labour rights, socialism, antimilitarism, and other similar causes. Hellen Keller wasn't born with disabilities but she contracted an unknown illness described by doctors as "acute congestion of the stomach and the brain" now understood as scarlet fever or meningitis.

The illness left her both deaf and blind. Keller at that time was able to communicate somewhat with Martha Washington, the six-year-old daughter of the family cook, who understood her signs and by the age of seven, Keller had more than 60 home signs to communicate with her family.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 23, 2019 08:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).