Helen Keller was not always deaf and blind. She was born a healthy baby girl, but after a serious infection as a toddler, she lost both her hearing and sight. Doctors told her parents that she would never make anything of herself in a hearing and seeing world. Determined, her parents ignored the doctors and enrolled their daughter in Perkins School for the Blind, where she met her life-long companion Anne Sullivan. Ms. Sullivan is largely credited with teaching Helen language by spelling the names of objects onto her hand. Once she grasped the concept, Helen quickly learned to communicate through spelling and sign language. She began taking classes at Radcliffe College, where she became the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Encouraged, she began advocating for deaf and blind people across the globe. She gave many speeches and wrote twelve books and numerous articles. When she passed away, she was the most recognized and respected deaf-blind person in the world.