The Miracle Worker

Anne took her out to a well and put Helen’s hands under running water, spelling out the word in sign language into her little hand. From that point on Helen was taught the words for everything and how to sign them herself. She became educated and attended lectures with Anne signing the words into her hand. Keller was a fast learner and, “at the end of their first year together Sullivan was spelling into Keller's nine-year-old hand the works of Homer, Shakespeare, and the Bible.” She eventually graduated a prestigious college with

Imagine living in a world without sound and everything is pitch black. Well, welcome to the amazing world of Helen Keller. Helen is a girl who grew up in Alabama who is blind, deaf, and mute. The astounding book The Miracle Worker by William Gibson captures her unbelievable story. The book that he wrote is in play form not original text, so there is a movie that comes with the novel. The Miracle Worker the movie was released in 2000. The film is directed by Nadia Tass, starring Alison Elliott as Annie Sullivan, who is Helen’s teacher and helps her out of her world, and also stars Hallie Kate as the Helen Keller. Even though the book and the movie have many similarities, they are different in their own way.

In “Through Deaf Eyes” you will find a range of perspective on the question what is deafness? This film is a balanced presentation of deaf experience. I believe that the film does a good job of revealing the struggles and triumphs of deaf people in society throughout history. The documentary covers a span of close to 200 years of deaf life in the United States. You will see experiences among deaf people in education, family life, work, and social activities.

Have you ever felt like there was nothing that you can do for your child? In this book, Deaf Like Me, by Thomas S. Spradley and James P. Spradley, I can see the journey that Lynn’s parents took to get her help. (Spradley & Spradley, 1978). This book was an excellent read. I really liked the way that they described the ways they tried to help Lynn to understand the world around her. The book, is a great asset for any family that might be unexpectedly put into a situation that they know nothing about such as a deaf child.

This educational movie leaves the important details of Helen Keller’s life because its goal is to make one feel uplifted instead of truly educating them, a tactic of Robert Greene’s soft seduction.

This documentary does an excellent job of advocating for the acknowledgment of people who are deaf within society. This is shown through not only the brilliantly written and performed poems of the students but also in the basic, everyday struggles each of them face, such as the desire to fit in or be valued by those around them. Deafness is not a specific to any gender, race, culture, or religion. The struggles many people who are deaf go through are relatable to all and

Mark Drolsbaugh’s Deaf Again book gives a detailed account of his experience with becoming deaf in both a hearing and deaf world. It includes the awkwardness and un-comfortability he felt in hearing environments, within is personal family dynamic and in deaf safe havens where he learned to adjust, and grow for the betterment of him learning ASL and in general, becoming emerged within Deaf culture. Drolsbaugh starts the book off by introducing how life for deaf people, even when giving birth, can be a struggle (due to society not being well informed on how to effectively communicate and treat Deaf individuals). Drolsbaugh’s mother, Sherry, wasn’t properly given epidural while giving birth to him, and as she made noises to best express that something was wrong, the nurse brushed it off. Once Mark was born, and Sherry got up the needle wasn’t in her back but on the bed. Looking at how communication issues can lead to negative results, throughout the rest of the book Drolsbaugh sheds light on this phenomenon, specifically focusing on the educational environment and the interactions between and among hearing and deaf communities.

Blind, deaf, and mute. Have you ever met someone like that? Chances are you haven’t but have you heard of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. Well, I am going to talk about the play “The Miracle Worker” written by William Gibson in 1956 and the movie “The Miracle Worker” directed by Arthur Penn, released in 1962. Both of them are about Annie Sullivan and how she unlocked the world to Helen Keller. There are many similarities and differences between the play and the movie.

Marie and her family grew up in Worcester. Her Deaf parents attended oral schools. Her father, John was a well-known person in New England. He is recognized in the Hall of Fame for playing basketball and softball for Worcester Deaf Club. He was involved in many activities for Worcester Deaf Club. Her mother, Doris is a housewife, raising three daughters. She always enjoyed taking her daughters to the zoo and including them in the Deaf community. When she was 8 months old, her mother dropped a drawer of clothing, Marie didn’t wake up, and her mother realized that something was wrong. By using homemade tests like letting the alarm ring and noticing Marie didn’t respond her mother

As I watched the film, I was shocked and disturbed at the extreme measures that was taken to experiment on ways to get a person’s hearing back throughout history. The thought of putting someone in a plane and doing loops in the air brings out the fear in me, but putting someone that was deaf in the plane just because they were different from the hearing culture filled my head with sad and horrid thoughts. Even a child’s happiest moments, throughout deaf history, were used to try to “cure the deaf child.” What was supposed to be a joyful memory was constructed with a bad thought of trying to be changed. In the movie when Professor Robert Panera was talking about how his dad took him to meet Babe Ruth in hopes the thrill will get his hearing

Being able to hear is something I think most people take for granted. But what if you cannot hear? On July 15, 2015, I was afforded the opportunity to observe eight-year-old Braydon Smith and five-year-old Peyton Smith, who were born deaf. Their names were changed to protect their identity. Their younger sister, Mackenzie, whose name was also changed to protect her identity, did not have any issues with her hearing. I met with both boys and their mother, Sandra Smith, at a relative’s home in Belton, Texas. However, the family lives in Loganville, Georgia. I found both boys to be energetic, and playful. Their mother seemed excited to tell her sons’ stories. Present at the meeting was Sandra Smith,

In 1997, Mark Drolsbaugh printed a book titled Deaf Again. In this book, Mark narrates his life story from a hearing child to deaf adult and all of his hardships. Mark was a hearing child born to deaf parents. As he matured, his hearing began to worsen and soon he was labeled as deaf, communicating became harder. He would make mistakes in class and be ridiculed for it. He did not understand the reason for the ridicule and eventually stopped putting effort in his studies. A pediatrician told his parents to look into speech therapy and hearing aids for him. His parents felt he would be happier if he connected more with his hearing side than subject him to a life ruled by his disability. However, his parents were fluent in ASL and regularly communicated with each other by signing. His guardians felt being taught to sign would hinder his development. As he aged, he experienced a larger disconnect from the hearing world, resulting in an isolating feeling. Eventually Mark learned ASL and gradually let the Deaf culture become a bigger part of his life. As his involvement in the Deaf culture grew he found a comradery that he had never had before. Soon, he began to see the value that came from communication and relationships with others above all else.

The use of psychological therapy or what is sometimes referred to as “talk-therapy” has proven to be effective in helping many people cope with life issues. For most hearing people, once the decision to seek help is made, it is a simple matter of showing up to a therapy appointment or walking into a clinic and asking for help. However, for the Deaf culture finding accessible and Deaf-friendly services can be a challenge producing little results. Currently this issue is addressed through the use of interpreters who facilitate communication between a hearing professional and Deaf person. Therefore, the benefits and challenges in using interpretation for a Deaf person seeking counseling were reviewed. The goal was to examine what role an

Beginning at birth, intelligence is being developed in the mind of a young one. Unlike normal infants, Helen Keller began learning and understanding language at approximately six years old, thanks to Anne Sullivan. The nonfiction drama dubbed The Miracle Worker by William Gibson depicts the visually impaired Anne Sullivan teaching her blind and deaf pupil Helen Keller not only language, but obedience. During this journey to teach a disabled six-and-a-half year old, Sullivan faces adversity from the Keller family, from rivalry based on the Civil War and opinions on how Helen should be nurtured. Furthermore, Sullivan believes that obedience is the key to knowledge.

“Mother Father Deaf: Living Between Sound and Silence” by Paul Preston, portrays interviews with over 150 individuals, who are all hearing children of deaf parents. Being that Preston is a child of deaf parents, himself, it made it a lot easier for the informants to fully open up to him. He understands where they are coming from and is relatable for them. One of their biggest frustrations is having to explain deafness- in terms of their parents, as well as themselves, to people who don’t understand the culture. One interviewee even mentioned, “I wasn’t going to do the interview because I always get asked so many dumb questions. It’s a lot better knowing that you understand, that I don’t have to explain everything” (Preston, 46). The common bond between Preston and them helped gained a sense of trust between each other.