She began walking and talking early. Then, nineteen months after she was born, Helen became very sick. It was a strange sickness that made her completely blind and deaf.

Was Hellen Keller fully deaf and blind?

Helen Keller was an American educator, advocate for the blind and deaf and co-founder of the ACLU. Stricken by an illness at the age of 2, Keller was left blind and deaf.

How did Helen Keller read lips if she was blind?

C. Yes, Helen Keller did learn to read lips by placing her fingers very gently on a person's lips and side of their face, and her thumb on their larynx, or voice box. This way she could feel the way they moved their mouth, and also the vibrations that their voice made, thus enabling her to read their lips.