September 24th to Sept 30th is celebrated world wide as the 'Deaf Awareness Week'. Next month on October 8th 'World Sight Day' will be observed. September 5th is 'Teacher's Day'. Taking into consideration all these important days, we at ChildRaise would like to chip in with our efforts to create more awareness & understanding about Hearing as well as Visual Impairment and also salute the Miracle Teacher -Annie Sullivan who gave Helen Keller to the world!!
Sullivan was Hellen's great teacher, best friend, philosopher& guide. I do not think one will find any better 'Guru-Shishya' team in modern times. They have taken the teacher disciple relationship to a very great level.Annie Sullivan accompanied Helen for almost 50 years. Without Annie's help Helen would have remained trapped within an isolated and confused world. Helen Keller says of the times before Annie came in to her life-
"I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding line, and no way of knowing how near the harbor was. light! Give me light was the wordless cry of my soul and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.
Helen Keller published 'Teacher' acknowledging Sullivan's contribution to her life. ChildRaise salutes to them. They will always inspire us to make difference in the lives of differently abled who want to be noticed and heard.
In this issue we are launching online Campaign 'FEEL' for deaf blind population by providing compiled resource material, information for them & also to raise awareness in public.
FEEL - Online Campaign to know more about Deaf-Blindness
1) What is Deaf- Blindness-
The federal definition of deaf-blindness is "concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination that creates such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education in programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness."
What that means is deaf-blindness is a condition in which both a hearing and vision loss are present at the same time. The combined effect of these losses, even if both are mild, creates unique challenges for the individual that cannot be addressed solely within a special education program for the deaf or special education program for the blind.
Source- Mississippi Deaf-Blind Project,The University of Southern Mississippi
Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education
118 College Drive # 5115,Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
Phone: (601) 266-5135 or (800) 264-5135
Fax: (601)266-4978
2) Statistics
It is estimated that there are more than 4, 25,000 deaf-blind children in India.
3) Helpline
18002337913
4) Institutions
Helen Keller Institute for Deaf & Deafblind
Municipal Secondary School , South Wing,Ground Floor,
N. M. Joshi Marg, Near 'S' Bridge,
Byculla (West),Mumbai - 400 011.
Tel: 2308 7052 / 2301 9215 ,
Fax: 2301 8211
THE EDUCATION AND AUDIOLOGY & RESEARCH SOCIETY
Municipal School,2nd floor, Topiwalla Lane,
Off Lamington Road, Mumbai 400 007.
Also at:
#62, Gulmarg, Napean Sea Road,
Malabar Hill, Mumbai -400006
Phone: 022-23691705
Sense International(India)
2nd floor, Admin block,
opp. Indian Institute of Management (IIM),
Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015
Phone - 91-79-26301282,
Fax- 91-79-26301590
5) Useful Links
1) Helen keller Archival collection-American foundation for the blind
http://afb.org/info_documents.asp?collectionid=1
In her will, Helen Keller bequeathed her papers and memorabilia to the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). The Helen Keller Archival Collection contains The Helen Keller Papers, The Helen Keller Artifacts and Memorabilia Collection, The Helen Keller Photograph Collection, and Books from Helen Keller's Library. Of particular interest are Keller's writings on a variety of topics that illustrate her intelligence, her positive disposition, and her passion for worthwhile social issues. For more general information, follow the link to the AFB homepage American Foundation for the Blind (http://www.igc.apc.org/afb) for additional blindness resources.
2) Leraning guide to "Miracle workers"
http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/miracle-worker.html
An excellent way to introduce the life of Helen Keller to students is with the 1962 film The Miracle Worker, which relates how Helen Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, was able to reach Keller and teach her how to communicate. This site, which recommends the film for children ages ten and up, offers background on the historical context of the film, provides numerous examples of discussion and essay questions, and recommends several books about Helen Keller and the triumph of other individuals over their disabilities.
3) A-Z deaf blindness
http://www.deafblind.com
This very complete Web site is the work of James Gallagher, a citizen of the United Kingdom who is deaf-blind. Here, you will find information about all aspects of deaf-blindness, including the deaf-blind manual alphabet, the various causes of deaf-blindness, contact information for various support organizations, and dates and times for conferences. Gallagher also includes information on deafness, including the two-handed manual alphabet commonly used by sighted deaf people in the U.K., the cochlear implant, and a description of American Sign Language. Some of the topics related to blindness include information on guide dogs and a comparison of Braille and Moon-a lesser-known alternate reading method for the blind. Of particular interest are the sections that discuss various technological devices that aid deaf-blind people in utilizing computers, telephones, and fax machines.
4) Deaf blind children homepage
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/5939/index.html
This site contains several stories, written by parents of deaf-blind children, illustrating the wide range of causes, degrees of impairment, and coping strategies that surround the issue of deaf-blindness.
6) Additional Resources
Articles and video Clips
:: Google: MSNBC Peter Alexander and Sister Deaf-Blind
:: Google: Tampa Bay Superwoman Deaf-Blind
:: Google: Deaf-Blind Triplets Texas
:: Google: Six Friends Deaf-Blind
:: Google: Deaf-Blind Poetry
:: Google: Deaf-Blind Artists
:: Google: Deaf-Blind Performers: Deaf-Blind Theatre and Jag Einhorn (FL)
:: Google: Deaf-Blind Athletes
7) Inspiring Lives
The life of Helen Keller
http://www.hki.org/helen.html
Check this site for a complete, yet concise, biographical sketch of Helen Keller.
Life of Anne Sullivan
Born - April 14, 1866
Feeding Hills, Massachusetts
Died - October 20, 1936 (aged 70)
Queens, New York, New York Spouse(s) John Albert Macy
(1905-1932)
Anne Sullivan was the oldest of five children, born in Feeding Hills, a subsection of the town of Agawam, Massachusetts. Her parents, Thomas and Alice Sullivan, were impoverished cooks who left Ireland in 1847 during the Potato Famine. Her mother suffered from tuberculosis and died when Anne was eight years old. Her father was an alcoholic farm hand who abandoned his three surviving children after his wife died. Although her sister Mary was sent to live with an aunt, when Annie was ten, she and her brother Jimmie moved in with other relatives, who later sent the two siblings to the Tewksbury Almshouse (today Tewksbury Hospital).Annie spent her time there with Jimmie, in hopes that they would not be separated; however, his condition resulting from a tubercular hip weakened him and he died three months later.
When Anne Sullivan was three she began having trouble with her eyesight as a result of the eye disease trachoma,a bacterial infection that often causes blindness by scarring. Sullivan underwent a long string of surgeries. Doctors in Tewksbury had made a few vain attempts to clean her eyelids. Later, Father Barbara, the chaplain of the nearest hospital, took it upon himself to arrange a procedure. This operation failed to correct her vision. Still more attempts were made. Father Barbara took her to the Boston City Infirmary (today Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary) this time, where she had two more operations. Even after this attempt her vision remained blurry. Sullivan returned to Tewksbury, against her will. After four years there, in 1880, she entered the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind in Boston, where she underwent surgery in 1881 and regained some of her sight. After the improvement of her eyesight, and graduating as class valedictorian in 1886, Michael Anaganos, the school's director, encouraged her to become a teacher for Helen Kellerand she received special training to do this. In 1887, Sullivan had an additional surgery which restored more of her vision.
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Sullivan with an 8-year-old Keller while vacationing at Cape Cod in July 1888
When Helen was six years old, in 1887, Anne moved in and acting as her governess started teaching her. Sullivan began by teaching Helen Keller nouns using the sign language alphabet signed into Keller's palm that had been developed by Spanish monks in medieval times. After its adoption by French educators, it was adapted by British and American educators including the founder of the Perkins Institution, Samuel Gridley Howe
On May 2, 1905, Sullivan married a Harvard University instructor and literary critic, John Albert Macy (1877-1932), eleven years her junior, who had helped Keller with her publications. The three lived together. However, within a few years, their marriage began to disintegrate. By 1914 they had separated, though they never officially divorced. In the early years after their separation, John Macy wrote and asked for money; however, as the years progressed he appears to have faded from her life.
Sullivan Macy and Keller were lifelong companions who lived, worked, and traveled together. In 1932 they were each awarded honorary fellowships from the Educational Institute of Scotland. They also were awarded honorary degrees from Temple University. By 1935, Sullivan Macy became completely blind. She died after a coma at age 70, with Keller holding her hand. When Keller herself died in 1968, her ashes were placed in the Washington National Cathedral next to Anne's.
Source - wikipedia
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