While there's no record of the absolute first deaf-blind person ever, Laura Bridgman (1829-1889) was the first documented deaf-blind person to receive a language education, paving the way for Helen Keller (1880-1968), who became the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and a globally recognized advocate for people with disabilities. Bridgman's success at the Perkins School for the Blind inspired Keller's parents, leading to Anne Sullivan's tutelage and Keller's groundbreaking achievements.
44 B.C.: Quintus Pedius is the earliest deaf person in recorded history known by name.
Helen Keller. Helen Keller is one of the most well-known deafblind people in history, famous for her political activism, lecturing, writing and for being the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree.
Several months before Helen's second birthday, a serious illness—possibly meningitis or scarlet fever—left her deaf and blind. She had no formal education until age seven, and since she could not speak, she developed a system for communicating with her family by feeling their facial expressions.
Helen Keller. When she was nineteen months old, an illness left Helen deaf, blind, and mute. An excitable, energetic child, she showed such signs of great intelligence that her mother sent for a private teacher.
Helen Keller, born in 1880, overcame blindness and deafness to become a renowned author and activist. Diagnosed at 19 months, she learned to communicate through Anne Sullivan's innovative teaching. Keller's autobiography, The Story of My Life, inspired millions, advocating for disability rights.
While no definitive, standardized IQ test was administered to Helen Keller after her deafness and blindness, modern estimates place her intelligence at a genius level, with many sources citing an IQ of around 160, reflecting her remarkable ability to learn, graduate from Radcliffe College, write books, and become a world-renowned advocate despite profound sensory loss.
Helen Keller's first comprehended word was "water," a breakthrough moment in 1887 when her teacher, Anne Sullivan, spelled W-A-T-E-R into her hand as cool water ran over her other hand, finally connecting the physical sensation with the concept and language. This realization unlocked a world of communication, leading her to learn dozens more words by the end of that day.
Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, on a farm near Tuscumbia, Alabama. A normal infant, she was stricken with an illness at 19 months, probably scarlet fever, which left her blind and deaf. For the next four years, she lived at home, a mute and unruly child.
Keller sat in the copilot seat with her hands on the throttle and instrument panel. As she steered for about 20 minutes, the pilot gave instructions that Thomson interpreted through tactile fingerspelling, a form of communication that uses touch to convey letters and symbols.
During a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Johnny Depp disclosed that he is blind in his left eye and short-sighted in his right eye! Whilst filming Pirates of The Caribbean, Johnny admits that he could barely see a few inches in front of his face… how disorientating.
A deafblind person won't usually be totally deaf and totally blind, but both senses will be reduced enough to cause significant difficulties in everyday life. These problems can occur even if hearing loss and vision loss are mild, as the senses work together and one would usually help compensate for loss of the other.
10 Famous Blind People Who Changed the World
'I suffer from permanent tinnitus … which means I've got this constant ringing in my ears, which has also made me somewhat deaf (or 'conveniently deaf,' as Sharon calls it). It's like this Whee!! noise in my head all the time.
Some deaf people don't really have vocal capability but will try their best to speak. Others have some residual hearing left. They may be hard of hearing, and may be able to speak. Then there are those with even more residual hearing who may speak well and use speech reading to follow along in conversation.
Answer : Evelyn's hearing loss was discovered while she was only eight years old. It was verified by the age of eleven. Evelyn's hearing impairment seemed to be gradual, and her mother initially noticed it while she reached eight years old.
Famous Deafblind: Julia Brace, Laura Bridgman, and Helen Keller.
Kangaroo babies (joeys) crawl into their mother's pouch immediately after birth. A Kangaroo baby (joey) is almost unrecognizable at birth. They are incredibly tiny, measuring around just an inch. Not only are they small, but they are also completely blind, deaf, and hairless at birth.
Usher syndrome is a rare genetic disease that affects both hearing and vision. It causes deafness or hearing loss and an eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Sometimes, it also causes problems with balance.
"The Miracle Worker" is a powerful play by William Gibson that dramatizes the true story of Helen Keller, a deaf and blind child, and her dedicated teacher Annie Sullivan, who helps her break through the barriers of darkness and silence to discover language and communication.
The next month, Keller made a breakthrough, when she realized that the motions her teacher was making on the palm of her hand, while running cool water over her other hand, symbolized the idea of "water".
In 1882, at 19 months of age, Helen Keller developed a febrile illness that left her both deaf and blind. Historical biographies attribute the illness to rubella, scarlet fever, encephalitis, or meningitis.
Stephen Hawking never officially revealed his IQ, and often dismissed the metric, famously saying, "People who boast about their IQ are losers". While estimates place his IQ around 160, a genius level, this is speculative; Hawking emphasized that creativity, persistence, and passion for science were more important than a single score, despite his profound impact on physics.
The photographs depict events in her life including her graduation from Radcliffe College in 1904, and meeting public figures such as US President Calvin Coolidge, to private moments such as Helen writing at her typewriter and playing a game of chess. Scans of these images are available for use with permission.