My Hot Take: Helen Keller

Okay, hear me out before everyone comes for me... because this is definitely one of my hottest takes yet.

We all know the story: Helen Keller was blind and deaf from a very young age, somehow learned to communicate, became a writer and activist, and even supposedly flew an airplane.

And honestly... how!?

The first thing that makes me question the whole story is the fact that Helen Keller became blind and deaf when she was a very young child. If you've never been able to see or hear, how do you even understand something like the English language in the first place? How would you know what words are, what they mean, or how they connect to things around you?

Then there's the whole writing thing.

Helen Keller became a published author and wrote books about her life and experiences. I know that there are explanations for how she learned language and writing, but I still find it difficult to wrap my head around. Imagine never being able to see letters on a page or hear someone pronounce a word and then being able to eventually communicate complex thoughts through writing. That is absolutely mind-blowing to me.

And then we get to the airplane story.

Apparently, Helen Keller actually flew a plane. This is the part where I really started questioning everything. How does someone who is both blind and deaf operate an airplane? How would she know what was happening around her? How would she communicate with someone else in the cockpit? How would she know what controls to use? From the perspective of someone who has only ever heard the basic story of Helen Keller in school, it sounds completely unbelievable.

And then there's another question I had: If she lost her sight and hearing as a toddler, how did she understand English later in life?

Obviously, she didn't just magically know English. She had to learn it somehow. And that is actually where the story gets really interesting. Helen Keller was taught language through touch. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, used a manual alphabet by spelling words into Helen's hand. Eventually, Helen began connecting those hand signs with objects and concepts around her.

When I learned that, I realized there actually IS an explanation for how she learned language. But even knowing that, I still find the entire story hard to comprehend.

Maybe that's because I'm looking at it from the perspective of someone who has always been able to see, hear, and learn language normally. It's difficult for me to imagine what it would be like to experience the world without either sight or hearing.

So, do I actually believe Helen Keller was completely made up? I honestly don't know. Maybe the real story is so extraordinary that it sounds fictional. Maybe some of the stories about her have been exaggerated overtime. Or maybe Helen Keller really did accomplish all of these things, and my brain just can't comprehend how.

That's my hot take.

What do YOU think?

- DeAnna