Celebrate Helen Keller's Birthday and Deafblind Awareness Week

Helen Keller with Anne Sullivan

For many people the word "deafblind" conjures up the image of Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who was sent from Perkins School for the Blind to the Keller family home in Tuscumbia, Alabama in 1887.

Sullivan was determined to educate the young girl who others deemed unreachable because she was totally deaf and blind. The rest of this story is well documented history. What many people do not realize, however, is that thousands of individuals living with deafblindness today continue to achieve what others thought impossible.

June 27, 2009 would have been Helen Keller's 129th birthday. It is during this time we celebrate Deafblind Awareness Week - a time dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of deafblindness. Perkins Spokesperson Jaimi Lard spreads this very message year round.

A Day in the Life of Jaimi Lard

Jaimi's mother had rubella during her pregnancy and as a result Jaimi was born totally deaf with virtually no vision. Doctors told her parents she would be unable to learn but they refused to accept this as fact.

"My parents hired a tutor who taught me sign language," Jaimi recalled. "As I began to pick up the basics, it was clear that I could learn."

Book Jaimi Lard to speak at your school or organization. Email: Public.Speaker@Perkins.org.

When she was five years old Jaimi left her home in Long Island and traveled to Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown. There she met children who talked with their hands just like she did and teachers who understood how to present a world she could neither see nor hear.

Today Jaimi is the official Perkins' Spokesperson. Using her own life to illustrate, Jaimi introduces audiences to a world that is governed more by ingenuity than disability. Accompanied by her interpreter, Jaimi travels to different venues each year to discuss the reality of deafblindness and the options Perkins offers to those who live with vision and hearing loss.

Jaimi relies on computer technology and large print software to complete a variety of daily activities, including shopping, reading the newspaper and sending email. But Jaimi's independence goes beyond routine daily tasks. Jaimi loves the outdoors and physical activity and has tried everything from trapeze to windsurfing. 

"People are always interested in understanding the ways I am able to communicate and I love to share with them," Jaimi says.

Learn more about Jaimi. To schedule a visit from Jaimi at your school or organization, call (617) 972-7335 or send an email to Public.Speaker@Perkins.org.

More Information About Deafblindness

• DB-LINK - Perkins School for the Blind, in partnership with the Teaching Research Institute and the Helen Keller National Center, operates DB-LINK at the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness. DB-LINK is the largest collection of information related to deaf-blindness worldwide.
• The New England Center Deafblind Project (NEC) - With a central office on Perkins' campus, the New England Center Deafblind Project provides technical assistance to children who are deafblind in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as to their families and educational programs.
• Deafblindness: Educational Service Guidelines - Available from Perkins Publications, this text is a best practice guide for educational administrators at the state, local, and program levels.