Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama in 1880. She was already starting to speak when she was six months old, but when she was 19 months old she caught a sickness that left her blind and deaf. Keller’s mother noticed a few days after catching the fever, she had no reaction to noises around her and did not react when someone was looking at her. By the time Anne Sullivan became her aid when Keller was six years old. Sullivan brought her to a plantation, secluded from everyone, in order to help her concentrate on learning. Sullivan would spell out words on Keller’s hand and then would help her be able to tell what she was talking about. After studying in school, Keller went out and shared her story with many others. She gave many speeches and worked on behalf of people with disabilities. She helped find the American Civil Liberties Union.