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DeafBlind people are rarely totally deaf and
totally blind. Each individual's degree of hearing and vision
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Sanzan Tani became deaf as a child while growing up in Japan, and devoted
most of his time to reading the great books. The more he learned, the
more curious he became about the world. As an adult, Tani was known
for his excellent knowledge and was awarded a prestigious teaching position
by the government of Japan. He began to lose his eyesight, and became
deafblind. Tani continued to teach about the great books, and communicated
with his students through touch.
Source: Carroll, Cathryn & Mather, Susan M. (1997). Movers
& Shakers: Deaf People Who Changed the World. San Diego: DawnSignPress.
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- Laura
Bridgman and Julia Brace
Internet: http://deafness.about.com/library/weekly/aa083099.htm
Description: "Before Helen Keller, there
[were] …deafblind children - who had also managed to accomplish
quite a bit at a time when the odds were seemingly against them."
- Julia
Brace
Internet: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/Library_Bulletin/Nov1992/LB-N92-Wait.html
Description: Biographical article about Julia
Brace. Here is an excerpt:
The name of Laura Bridgman is remembered today as Dr. Howe's
greatest teaching success, as well as for the indirect role her accomplishments
played in opening the doors of education for the twentieth-century
deaf-blind humanitarian, Helen Keller. That of Julia Brace is all
but forgotten. Yet it was because of a visit to the Hartford Asylum
for the Deaf and Dumb (now the American School for the Deaf), where
Dr. Howe met Julia Brace, that he conceived a plan for the education
of the deaf-blind and undertook the training of Laura Bridgman, Oliver
Caswell, and eventually Julia Brace herself.
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- Biography.com
profile on Laura Bridgman
Internet: http://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=13113
Description: A brief paragraph. Bridgman is
known as the first deafblind person to be successfully educated, a accomplishment
that lead to the education of Helen Keller.
- Book: Child
of the Silent Night
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company; ISBN:
0395068355; (September 1963, with several recent reprints)
Description: Written for people who read on
a 4th-6th grade reading level. This book is much more accessible to
children and non-native readers of English than the following books,
which are more academic/adult-level.
- Book: The
Education of Laura Bridgman : First Deaf and Blind Person to Learn Language
Publisher: Harvard University Press; ISBN:
0674005899; (May 2001)
Description: "Laura's education became
an experiment that [her teacher, Samuel Howe,] hoped would prove his
own controversial ideas about the body, mind, and soul… [This book]
is both a success story of how a sightless and soundless girl gained
contact with an ever-widening world, and also a cautionary tale about
the way moral crusades and scientific progress can compromise each other."
- Book: The
Imprisoned Guest: Samuel Howe and Laura Bridgman, the Original Deaf-Blind
Girl
Publisher: Publisher: Picador USA; ISBN: 0312420293;
(August 2002)
Description: "The resurrected story of
a deaf-blind girl and the man who brought her out of silence. In 1837,
Samuel Gridley Howe, director of Boston's Perkins Institution for the
Blind, heard about a bright, deaf-blind seven-year-old, the daughter
of New Hampshire farmers. At once he resolved to rescue her from the
"darkness and silence of the tomb." And indeed, thanks to
Howe and an extraordinary group of female teachers, Laura Bridgman learned
to finger spell, to read raised letters, and to write legibly and even
eloquently… [This book] retrieves Laura Bridgman's forgotten life,
placing it in the context of nineteenth-century American social, intellectual,
and cultural history."
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- Braille
Bug Helen Keller Biography
Internet: http://www.afb.org/braillebug/helen_keller_bio.asp
Description: A short, illustrated biography
written for kids. From American
Foundation for the Blind, an organization to which Keller devoted
over 40 years of her life.
-
Helen Keller Archival Collection
Internet: http://www.afb.org/helenkeller.asp
Description: 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.
All except the books are available online at no charge.
- Biography.com
profile on Helen Keller
Internet: http://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=16451
Description: A brief summary of Keller's life.
- The
Truth About Helen Keller
Internet: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/17_01/Kell171.shtml
Description: "Children's books about
Helen Keller distort her life." A review of several popular children's
books about Keller, most of which leave out her long and empassioned
adulthood as an activist for women and the poor. Includes a list of
recommended resources.
- The
Socialist Legacy of Helen Keller
Internet: http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/keller-helen/intro.htm
Description: An introduction to Helen's adult
political life, this document is the first part of the Helen
Keller Reference Archive, maintained by the Marxists
Internet Archive. The Reference Archive web site also includes
a copy of Helen Keller's FBI file [in PDF file format].
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Robert Smithdas was born on June 7th in 1925. He became the
first deaf-blind person in America to receive a master's degree, fifty
years after another renowned deaf-blind advocate, Helen Keller, became
the first deaf-blind person to receive a bachelor's degree. Smithdas ran
Services for the Deaf-Blind at the Industrial Home for the Blind in New
York as a director. He also published two works: Life at My Fingertips,
an autobiography and City of the Heart, a collection of poetry. Smithdas
went on to earn three honorary degrees, one from Gallaudet College, one
from Western Michigan University and one from John Hopkins University
in 1980.
Source: Gannon, Jack R. (1981). Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of
Deaf America. Maryland: National Association of the Deaf.
- 20/20
Interview of Bob and Michelle Smithdas
Internet: http://www.helenkeller.org/national/smithdas.htm
Description: Barbara Walters' "most memorable
interview was "'a man I interviewed more than 25 years ago. He
was a teacher and a poet, and the most inspirational person I have ever
met. His name is Robert Smithdas.' Now, more than 30 years later, Walters
revisits Smithdas, who is now married to a woman who, like him, is deaf
and blind. She reports how they manage to live independently; cooking
by touch, using teletype-style phones and computers, wearing pagers
that vibrate to signal the ringing of the telephone or the doorbell."
- Bob
and Michelle Smithdas, Both Blind and Deaf, Lead Lives Full of Love,
Work, Hobbies and Humor
Internet: http://www.redwhiteandblue.org/news/bins/SMITHDAS.HTM
Description: The history and current lives
of Robert and Michelle Smithdas.
- Deafblind-related
articles by Robert Smithdas
Internet: http://www.tr.wou.edu/dblink/data/author.htm
Description: On this page you can search the
DB-LINK Database for materials written by Robert and/or Michelle Smithdas.
- Mystery
of the Senses: Hearing
Internet: http://www.binghamton.edu/physics/PhysicsOutreach/Videos/MysterySensesHearing.html
Description: A NOVA program "explores
what it is like to hear again after decades of deafness, as it follows
Michelle Smithdas of the Helen Keller National Center, undergoing a
cochlear implant to restore hearing." Video available for purchase
from WGBH.
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- History
of John J. Boyer and his company, Computers to Help People (CHPI)
Internet: http://www.chpi.org/history.htm
Description: "The founder and Executive
Director, John J. Boyer, is himself both deaf and blind. He started
the company in 1981 after earning a master's degree in Computer Science
from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His main duties are writing
special software for people with disabilities, especially for the Technical
Braille Center, business development and fundraising." This page
chronicles Boyer's life and career.
- Godtouches
Internet Ministry
Internet: http://www.godtouches.org/history.htm
Description: John J. Boyer is not only a computer
programmer and business owner, but also a lay minister. This page describes
his life, religion, and avocation.
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The deaf-blind community
in Seattle is extraordinarily vibrant, with a strong sense of pride
and independence. That is why Danny Delcambre moved there. Deaf from
birth and steadily losing his sight, Danny suffers from Usher syndrome.
The region in Louisiana he left behind has the highest concentration
of Usher syndrome in the world. This program takes a sensitive look
at this degenerative condition, as neurologist/author Oliver Sacks and
Danny explore the nature of deaf culture and the marvelous richness
of American Sign Language, which includes a sophisticated touch-based
variation called tactile signing.
Source: "The Ragin’ Cajun: Usher Syndrome" Video, available
from Films for the Humanities and Sciences.
- DELCAMBRE'S Ragin Cajun Restaurant
Internet: http://www.theragincajun.com/
Description: The official web site of Delcambre's
restaurant. (It recently closed, but this link fully describes the restaurant
and its owner.)
- DannyDelcambre.com
Internet: http://dannydelcambre.com/
Description: Delcambre's personal web site
Includes information about his services as a motivational speaker.
-
Danny Delcambre - If I Can, You Can
Internet: http://www.washington.edu/doit/Newsletters/Dec97/06.html
Description: An article from DO-IT (Disabilities,
Opportunities, Internetworking & Technology) at the University of
Washington. "Danny Delcambre, the first Deaf-Blind founder and
operator of a Seattle restaurant, gave an inspirational speech on his
accomplishments… All of Danny's stories made for a very entertaining
hour and a half… Danny made his fantastic speech in American Sign
Language where most of the people in the room could only understand
him through a voice interpreter."
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Continue to DeafBlind/Disability Community History.
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