Helen Keller was born on 27 June 1880 in Alabama. For the first two years of her life she was a lively, healthy baby but in 1882 she caught a fierce fever that nearly killed her.

When the fever passed, Helen could no longer see or hear. It was as if she has been put in a dark prison cell. She even had problems making herself understood.

Luckily Helen did not give up easily and she began to explore the world around her using her other senses. She touched and smelled everything she came across and felt other people's hands to see what they were doing. By the age of seven she had invented more than 60 different signs so that she could 'talk' to her family. For example, if she wanted bread she would pretend to cut a loaf and butter the slices - but life wasn't always so simple.

Many times during the day, Helen found the world around her alien and confusing. When she couldn't make herself understood, she would become so angry that she would hurl herself around the room, kicking and screaming in frustration. As she got older her temper tantrums became worse. She would grab other people's food from their plates or hurl her mother's ornaments to the floor. Once she even locked her mother in the pantry!

Helen's father was advised to hire a private tutor and shortly afterwards, Anne Sullivan came into Helen's life. Anne had come from a poor home and had problems of her own with her vision. Fortunately for Anne, an operation had restored her sight and she had she had become a teacher at the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston.

When Anne became Helen's tutor, life was not easy. Helen would scream and kick and bite when she was made to do something. Luckily for Helen, Ann was persistent and eventually Helen began to take notice of what she was trying to do.

A breakthrough came when Anne taught Helen the manual alphabet. This is a sign language where each letter is signed onto the hand of the deaf-blind person. Anne drew the letters W A T E R onto Helen's hand and then poured water over her hand. Helen could feel the shape of the letters that Anne drew and soon she understood that they meant water. Anne taught her that everything has a name and as soon she recognised the shapes of all the letters, Helen wanted to know the names of everything she touched!

Helen was a bright child and learned quickly. To help her communicate in other way, Anne taught Helen to read and write using Braille. At last, Helen was beginning to make sense of the world around her and she became a much better tempered child.

When she was ready, Anne took Helen to the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. At the school, there were lots of books for her to use and it was easier for her to learn. By 1890, after only one month's study, Helen had learned to speak by pressing her fingertips against people's lips to feel the movement and the vibrations. It is a skill that few deaf-blind people manage, and it was a major achievement for Helen who could not hear at all.

Helen was an excellent student and was determined to succeed. When she left the school, she went to Radcliffe College and in 1904, she graduated with honours. Throughout her life, Helen worked on behalf of deaf-blind people everywhere. She set up organisations, raised money and on many occasions, she travelled to other countries to talk to groups of people.

To record what had happened in her life, she wrote several books including 'The Story of My Life'. 'The World I Live In', 'Out of the Dark' and 'Teacher: Anne Sullivan Macy'.

Anne Sullivan assisted Helen with her work for almost fifty years - first as her teacher, and later as her interpreter. She was also Helen's most faithful friend. Without her, Helen may have remained forever in her dark, bewildering world.

Helen died in 1968, but the work she started still goes on through her charities. Many people who are deaf or blind have become successful in their lives, but Helen Keller is probably one of the best known.