Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week

Helen Keller, an activist and a popular author who was both deaf and blind, beat the odds at the time by being able to learn to read, write, and speak through her dedicated teacher Anne Sullivan. If you haven’t seen The Miracle Worker, an ongoing play as well as a movie based on their incredible journey of communication, it is an entertaining and informative recommendation. In 1984, President Regan made the last week of June into Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week in order to commemorate her birthday (June 27, 1880). The purpose of this week is to enhance the awareness of the deaf-blind population and their need for recognition within society.

Along with the Helen Keller National Center for the Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC), volunteer organizations, nationally-recognized agencies, and local support groups will be making important information available during the week of June 21 through June 27.

Deaf-blind people are those individuals living with a combination of hearing and vision loss. The Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week of 2009 is not to remind people that Helen Keller was the prominent figure for the deaf-blind community, but that she was not the only one living with both of these disabilities. By putting on events during this week and letting their voice be heard, the people of HKNC are here to change the assumptions behind deaf-blindness. Hoping to change the way the world sees deaf-blindness, HKNC’s theme is “Deaf-Blindness Didn’t Stop With Helen Keller.”

Because most people only associate the affliction of deaf-blindness with Helen Keller, they are unaware that people living all around them could be dealing with the loss of vision and hearing and because deaf-blindness can affect anyone regardless of age, race, and gender; no one is exempt from the possibility of losing their senses. The phrase “deaf-blind” is not exclusive to only those who are completely blind and deaf, but also those who are hearing impaired or partially blind, and the number of people with relative problems in these areas is growing each year.

Even though Helen Keller famously had Anne Sullivan to help her communicate with the world, most of the today’s citizens living with deaf-blindness are independent. Some live, work, and travel on their own, and this awareness week is a great way to let the rest of America know that they deserve to be recognized within the community.

Although Helen Keller died in 1968, deaf-blindness didn’t die with her and since 1969 the HKNC has been in place to spread awareness of that as well as provide guidance and support to those individuals and their families (over the age of 16) who are coping with any form of deaf-blindness. As the only exclusive agency that provides vocational and independent services and training for people overcoming these disabilities in order to lead healthy and happy lives, HKNC would love for you to be involved or at least informed of their efforts this last week of June. For more information about Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week, visit the HKNC website www.hknc.org for access to press releases, pamphlets, posters, and recommended activities in order to promote deaf-blind awareness or find a location near you in one of ten locations across the United States.