Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

) Just an addednum -

Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a man -
Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics was VERY
big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him off because
they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to marry and
procreate.

It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a proponent for
everything that was against her very essence. This is the only reason
I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas. Yet, she
seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see through it?
Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone, except
her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to "validate" her
existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a victim of
her own standards?

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <> wrote:
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, �<> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

) Just an addednum -

Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a man -
Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics was VERY
big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him off because
they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to marry and
procreate.

It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a proponent for
everything that was against her very essence. This is the only reason
I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas. Yet, she
seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see through it?
Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone, except
her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to "validate" her
existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a victim of
her own standards?

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <> wrote:
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, �<> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
Well, that was dumb, her disability was acquired through an illness not heredity!

I do believe she worked very hard to prove herself as "an exception" to all the eugenics philosophy of the day. It's why she wrote and traveled so much, I bet.

It was a very sad situation, because even Annie's marriage didn't last because of feeling duty to Helen.

Gerrie Louden

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 10:57 AM
> Just an addednum -
>
> Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a
> man -
> Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics
> was VERY
> big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him
> off because
> they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to
> marry and
> procreate.
>
> It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a
> proponent for
> everything that was against her very essence. This is the
> only reason
> I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas.
> Yet, she
> seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see
> through it?
> Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone,
> except
> her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to
> "validate" her
> existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a
> victim of
> her own standards?
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <>
> wrote:
> > Take a moment and type words such as:
> >
> > Helen keller eugenics
> >
> > Or simply go to this link:
> >
> > http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
> >
> > Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the
> individuals and groups she
> > supported and read about them.
> >
> > In any case, spend an hour or two starting with
> eugenics and then
> > branch off from there to get to learn more about the
> "darker side" of
> > this "amazing woman."
> >
> > There were some who would argue that one reason she
> was so well-known
> > in higher circles is because she was used by them as a
> puppet to
> > promote their agendas - not really understanding that
> she was being
> > used as a type of "poster child."
> >
> > Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the
> things they fed
> > her and encouraged her to give speeches and write
> letters about? In
> > either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was
> outspoken when
> > it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization,
> abortion, and "life
> > is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
> >
> > Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia:
> Life, Death,
> > God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
> >
> > "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that
> Haiselden’s views
> > about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known
> American lawyer
> > Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the
> Scopes “Monkey”
> > Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden.
> When asked his
> > opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow
> answered
> > acerbically: “Chloroform unfit children. Show them
> the same mercy that
> > is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.”
> Blind and deaf
> > advocate Helen Keller added: “Our puny
> sentimentalism has caused us to
> > forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be
> of some use to
> > itself and to the world.”
> >
> > Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her
> lifetime? Yes,
> > I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right
> twice a day.
> >
> > Rob Nielson
> > ASL Teacher
> > Westwood High School
> > http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> > http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM,  <>
> wrote:
> >> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an
> advocate for Deaf and
> >> Blind people.  She was a follower of Swedenborg
> who believed that all people
> >> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to
> Heaven.  Helen Keller was also
> >> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and
> was outspoken in
> >> her opposition to war. She was member of
> the Socialist Party of America, she
> >> campaigned for women's suffrage, and socialism,
> as well as many
> >> other leftist causes.A quote by her " At that
> time the compliments he paid
> >> me were so generous that I blush to remember them.
> But now that I have come
> >> out for socialism he reminds me and the public
> that I am blind and deaf and
> >> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in
> intelligence during the
> >> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous
> Brooklyn Eagle! Socially blind and
> >> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system
> that is the cause of much
> >> of the physical blindness and deafness which we
> are trying to prevent."
> >> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for
> women's rights, disabled rights
> >> and believed in the inherit goodness of all
> people.  She knew Alexander
> >> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see
> if she could be cured of
> >> her deafness.  She did not believe in nor support
> eugenics.  She was a
> >> socialist which got her labeled as a communist,
> but she was in no way a
> >> eugenicist.  I met her when I was six years old
> and was totally enthralled
> >> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a
> totally oral school.
> >> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and
> her work for Deaf/Blind
> >> rights at a time when most disabled people were
> relegated to no education
> >> and menial labor.
> >> Mrs. Terry Commean
> >> Certified ASL Teacher
> >> Seminole High School
> >> Sanford, Florida
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Rob Nielson <>
> >> To:
> >> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> >> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
> >>
> >> Just out of curiosity -
> >>
> >> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
> >>
> >> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen
> Keller day and talk
> >> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you
> guys are aware that
> >> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
> >>
> >> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered
> herself a blind person
> >> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who
> was blind). She was
> >> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and
> other "less than
> >> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's
> followers. Ironically, the
> >> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly
> supported would have
> >> mean she should be "terminated" if those same
> standards were to apply
> >> to her.
> >>
> >> Just something to consider...
> >>
> >> Rob Nielson
> >> ASL Teacher
> >> Westwood High School
> >> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> >> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski
> <>
> >> wrote:
> >>> Does anyone have questions that go along with
> the movie "The Miracle
> >>> Worker"?
> >>>
> >>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message
> & attached documents may
> >>> contain
> >> confidential information.  All information is
> intended only for the use of
> >> the
> >> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate
> named recipient, you are not
> >> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or
> take any action in
> >> reliance on
> >> the information.  Any action, other than
> immediate delivery to the named
> >> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have
> received this email message
> >> in
> >> error, please notify the sender immediately and
> delete this message from
> >> your
> >> email system.  If you are the named recipient you
> are not authorized to
> >> reveal
> >> any of this information to any other unauthorized
> person.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

) Just an addednum -

Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a man -
Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics was VERY
big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him off because
they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to marry and
procreate.

It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a proponent for
everything that was against her very essence. This is the only reason
I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas. Yet, she
seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see through it?
Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone, except
her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to "validate" her
existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a victim of
her own standards?

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <> wrote:
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, �<> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
Well, that was dumb, her disability was acquired through an illness not heredity!

I do believe she worked very hard to prove herself as "an exception" to all the eugenics philosophy of the day. It's why she wrote and traveled so much, I bet.

It was a very sad situation, because even Annie's marriage didn't last because of feeling duty to Helen.

Gerrie Louden

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 10:57 AM
> Just an addednum -
>
> Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a
> man -
> Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics
> was VERY
> big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him
> off because
> they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to
> marry and
> procreate.
>
> It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a
> proponent for
> everything that was against her very essence. This is the
> only reason
> I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas.
> Yet, she
> seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see
> through it?
> Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone,
> except
> her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to
> "validate" her
> existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a
> victim of
> her own standards?
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <>
> wrote:
> > Take a moment and type words such as:
> >
> > Helen keller eugenics
> >
> > Or simply go to this link:
> >
> > http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
> >
> > Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the
> individuals and groups she
> > supported and read about them.
> >
> > In any case, spend an hour or two starting with
> eugenics and then
> > branch off from there to get to learn more about the
> "darker side" of
> > this "amazing woman."
> >
> > There were some who would argue that one reason she
> was so well-known
> > in higher circles is because she was used by them as a
> puppet to
> > promote their agendas - not really understanding that
> she was being
> > used as a type of "poster child."
> >
> > Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the
> things they fed
> > her and encouraged her to give speeches and write
> letters about? In
> > either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was
> outspoken when
> > it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization,
> abortion, and "life
> > is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
> >
> > Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia:
> Life, Death,
> > God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
> >
> > "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that
> Haiselden’s views
> > about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known
> American lawyer
> > Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the
> Scopes “Monkey”
> > Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden.
> When asked his
> > opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow
> answered
> > acerbically: “Chloroform unfit children. Show them
> the same mercy that
> > is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.”
> Blind and deaf
> > advocate Helen Keller added: “Our puny
> sentimentalism has caused us to
> > forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be
> of some use to
> > itself and to the world.”
> >
> > Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her
> lifetime? Yes,
> > I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right
> twice a day.
> >
> > Rob Nielson
> > ASL Teacher
> > Westwood High School
> > http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> > http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM,  <>
> wrote:
> >> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an
> advocate for Deaf and
> >> Blind people.  She was a follower of Swedenborg
> who believed that all people
> >> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to
> Heaven.  Helen Keller was also
> >> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and
> was outspoken in
> >> her opposition to war. She was member of
> the Socialist Party of America, she
> >> campaigned for women's suffrage, and socialism,
> as well as many
> >> other leftist causes.A quote by her " At that
> time the compliments he paid
> >> me were so generous that I blush to remember them.
> But now that I have come
> >> out for socialism he reminds me and the public
> that I am blind and deaf and
> >> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in
> intelligence during the
> >> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous
> Brooklyn Eagle! Socially blind and
> >> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system
> that is the cause of much
> >> of the physical blindness and deafness which we
> are trying to prevent."
> >> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for
> women's rights, disabled rights
> >> and believed in the inherit goodness of all
> people.  She knew Alexander
> >> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see
> if she could be cured of
> >> her deafness.  She did not believe in nor support
> eugenics.  She was a
> >> socialist which got her labeled as a communist,
> but she was in no way a
> >> eugenicist.  I met her when I was six years old
> and was totally enthralled
> >> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a
> totally oral school.
> >> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and
> her work for Deaf/Blind
> >> rights at a time when most disabled people were
> relegated to no education
> >> and menial labor.
> >> Mrs. Terry Commean
> >> Certified ASL Teacher
> >> Seminole High School
> >> Sanford, Florida
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Rob Nielson <>
> >> To:
> >> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> >> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
> >>
> >> Just out of curiosity -
> >>
> >> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
> >>
> >> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen
> Keller day and talk
> >> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you
> guys are aware that
> >> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
> >>
> >> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered
> herself a blind person
> >> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who
> was blind). She was
> >> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and
> other "less than
> >> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's
> followers. Ironically, the
> >> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly
> supported would have
> >> mean she should be "terminated" if those same
> standards were to apply
> >> to her.
> >>
> >> Just something to consider...
> >>
> >> Rob Nielson
> >> ASL Teacher
> >> Westwood High School
> >> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> >> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski
> <>
> >> wrote:
> >>> Does anyone have questions that go along with
> the movie "The Miracle
> >>> Worker"?
> >>>
> >>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message
> & attached documents may
> >>> contain
> >> confidential information.  All information is
> intended only for the use of
> >> the
> >> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate
> named recipient, you are not
> >> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or
> take any action in
> >> reliance on
> >> the information.  Any action, other than
> immediate delivery to the named
> >> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have
> received this email message
> >> in
> >> error, please notify the sender immediately and
> delete this message from
> >> your
> >> email system.  If you are the named recipient you
> are not authorized to
> >> reveal
> >> any of this information to any other unauthorized
> person.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She found her deafness to be very
distasteful to the point that she strenuously tried to learn to speak
and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was
to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who
don't satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to
live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the
reason she was so active at writing letters and giving lectures - to
justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 1:44 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all
>> people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was
>> also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America,
>> she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have
>> come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf
>> and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled
>> rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured
>> of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are
>> not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

) Just an addednum -

Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a man -
Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics was VERY
big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him off because
they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to marry and
procreate.

It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a proponent for
everything that was against her very essence. This is the only reason
I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas. Yet, she
seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see through it?
Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone, except
her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to "validate" her
existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a victim of
her own standards?

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <> wrote:
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, �<> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
Well, that was dumb, her disability was acquired through an illness not heredity!

I do believe she worked very hard to prove herself as "an exception" to all the eugenics philosophy of the day. It's why she wrote and traveled so much, I bet.

It was a very sad situation, because even Annie's marriage didn't last because of feeling duty to Helen.

Gerrie Louden

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 10:57 AM
> Just an addednum -
>
> Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a
> man -
> Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics
> was VERY
> big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him
> off because
> they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to
> marry and
> procreate.
>
> It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a
> proponent for
> everything that was against her very essence. This is the
> only reason
> I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas.
> Yet, she
> seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see
> through it?
> Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone,
> except
> her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to
> "validate" her
> existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a
> victim of
> her own standards?
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <>
> wrote:
> > Take a moment and type words such as:
> >
> > Helen keller eugenics
> >
> > Or simply go to this link:
> >
> > http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
> >
> > Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the
> individuals and groups she
> > supported and read about them.
> >
> > In any case, spend an hour or two starting with
> eugenics and then
> > branch off from there to get to learn more about the
> "darker side" of
> > this "amazing woman."
> >
> > There were some who would argue that one reason she
> was so well-known
> > in higher circles is because she was used by them as a
> puppet to
> > promote their agendas - not really understanding that
> she was being
> > used as a type of "poster child."
> >
> > Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the
> things they fed
> > her and encouraged her to give speeches and write
> letters about? In
> > either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was
> outspoken when
> > it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization,
> abortion, and "life
> > is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
> >
> > Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia:
> Life, Death,
> > God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
> >
> > "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that
> Haiselden’s views
> > about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known
> American lawyer
> > Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the
> Scopes “Monkey”
> > Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden.
> When asked his
> > opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow
> answered
> > acerbically: “Chloroform unfit children. Show them
> the same mercy that
> > is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.”
> Blind and deaf
> > advocate Helen Keller added: “Our puny
> sentimentalism has caused us to
> > forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be
> of some use to
> > itself and to the world.”
> >
> > Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her
> lifetime? Yes,
> > I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right
> twice a day.
> >
> > Rob Nielson
> > ASL Teacher
> > Westwood High School
> > http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> > http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM,  <>
> wrote:
> >> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an
> advocate for Deaf and
> >> Blind people.  She was a follower of Swedenborg
> who believed that all people
> >> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to
> Heaven.  Helen Keller was also
> >> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and
> was outspoken in
> >> her opposition to war. She was member of
> the Socialist Party of America, she
> >> campaigned for women's suffrage, and socialism,
> as well as many
> >> other leftist causes.A quote by her " At that
> time the compliments he paid
> >> me were so generous that I blush to remember them.
> But now that I have come
> >> out for socialism he reminds me and the public
> that I am blind and deaf and
> >> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in
> intelligence during the
> >> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous
> Brooklyn Eagle! Socially blind and
> >> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system
> that is the cause of much
> >> of the physical blindness and deafness which we
> are trying to prevent."
> >> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for
> women's rights, disabled rights
> >> and believed in the inherit goodness of all
> people.  She knew Alexander
> >> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see
> if she could be cured of
> >> her deafness.  She did not believe in nor support
> eugenics.  She was a
> >> socialist which got her labeled as a communist,
> but she was in no way a
> >> eugenicist.  I met her when I was six years old
> and was totally enthralled
> >> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a
> totally oral school.
> >> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and
> her work for Deaf/Blind
> >> rights at a time when most disabled people were
> relegated to no education
> >> and menial labor.
> >> Mrs. Terry Commean
> >> Certified ASL Teacher
> >> Seminole High School
> >> Sanford, Florida
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Rob Nielson <>
> >> To:
> >> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> >> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
> >>
> >> Just out of curiosity -
> >>
> >> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
> >>
> >> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen
> Keller day and talk
> >> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you
> guys are aware that
> >> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
> >>
> >> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered
> herself a blind person
> >> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who
> was blind). She was
> >> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and
> other "less than
> >> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's
> followers. Ironically, the
> >> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly
> supported would have
> >> mean she should be "terminated" if those same
> standards were to apply
> >> to her.
> >>
> >> Just something to consider...
> >>
> >> Rob Nielson
> >> ASL Teacher
> >> Westwood High School
> >> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> >> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski
> <>
> >> wrote:
> >>> Does anyone have questions that go along with
> the movie "The Miracle
> >>> Worker"?
> >>>
> >>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message
> & attached documents may
> >>> contain
> >> confidential information.  All information is
> intended only for the use of
> >> the
> >> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate
> named recipient, you are not
> >> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or
> take any action in
> >> reliance on
> >> the information.  Any action, other than
> immediate delivery to the named
> >> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have
> received this email message
> >> in
> >> error, please notify the sender immediately and
> delete this message from
> >> your
> >> email system.  If you are the named recipient you
> are not authorized to
> >> reveal
> >> any of this information to any other unauthorized
> person.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She found her deafness to be very
distasteful to the point that she strenuously tried to learn to speak
and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was
to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who
don't satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to
live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the
reason she was so active at writing letters and giving lectures - to
justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 1:44 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all
>> people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was
>> also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America,
>> she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have
>> come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf
>> and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled
>> rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured
>> of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are
>> not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:20 PM, <> wrote:
> I love having my students try to "read" finger spelling in their hands as
> most Deaf/Blind people do and see if they can understand each other.
> Not as easy as it looks in the movie.
> Terry Commean

I agree, it takes a bit of practice to develop this skill.

I've had some Deaf/blind friends in the past that I would interpret
for. VERY tiring having them rest their hands on top of yours for an
hour straight! Definitely gave my shoulders a workout.



Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

) Just an addednum -

Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a man -
Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics was VERY
big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him off because
they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to marry and
procreate.

It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a proponent for
everything that was against her very essence. This is the only reason
I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas. Yet, she
seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see through it?
Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone, except
her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to "validate" her
existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a victim of
her own standards?

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <> wrote:
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, �<> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
Well, that was dumb, her disability was acquired through an illness not heredity!

I do believe she worked very hard to prove herself as "an exception" to all the eugenics philosophy of the day. It's why she wrote and traveled so much, I bet.

It was a very sad situation, because even Annie's marriage didn't last because of feeling duty to Helen.

Gerrie Louden

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 10:57 AM
> Just an addednum -
>
> Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a
> man -
> Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics
> was VERY
> big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him
> off because
> they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to
> marry and
> procreate.
>
> It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a
> proponent for
> everything that was against her very essence. This is the
> only reason
> I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas.
> Yet, she
> seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see
> through it?
> Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone,
> except
> her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to
> "validate" her
> existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a
> victim of
> her own standards?
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <>
> wrote:
> > Take a moment and type words such as:
> >
> > Helen keller eugenics
> >
> > Or simply go to this link:
> >
> > http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
> >
> > Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the
> individuals and groups she
> > supported and read about them.
> >
> > In any case, spend an hour or two starting with
> eugenics and then
> > branch off from there to get to learn more about the
> "darker side" of
> > this "amazing woman."
> >
> > There were some who would argue that one reason she
> was so well-known
> > in higher circles is because she was used by them as a
> puppet to
> > promote their agendas - not really understanding that
> she was being
> > used as a type of "poster child."
> >
> > Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the
> things they fed
> > her and encouraged her to give speeches and write
> letters about? In
> > either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was
> outspoken when
> > it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization,
> abortion, and "life
> > is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
> >
> > Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia:
> Life, Death,
> > God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
> >
> > "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that
> Haiselden’s views
> > about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known
> American lawyer
> > Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the
> Scopes “Monkey”
> > Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden.
> When asked his
> > opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow
> answered
> > acerbically: “Chloroform unfit children. Show them
> the same mercy that
> > is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.”
> Blind and deaf
> > advocate Helen Keller added: “Our puny
> sentimentalism has caused us to
> > forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be
> of some use to
> > itself and to the world.”
> >
> > Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her
> lifetime? Yes,
> > I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right
> twice a day.
> >
> > Rob Nielson
> > ASL Teacher
> > Westwood High School
> > http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> > http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM,  <>
> wrote:
> >> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an
> advocate for Deaf and
> >> Blind people.  She was a follower of Swedenborg
> who believed that all people
> >> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to
> Heaven.  Helen Keller was also
> >> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and
> was outspoken in
> >> her opposition to war. She was member of
> the Socialist Party of America, she
> >> campaigned for women's suffrage, and socialism,
> as well as many
> >> other leftist causes.A quote by her " At that
> time the compliments he paid
> >> me were so generous that I blush to remember them.
> But now that I have come
> >> out for socialism he reminds me and the public
> that I am blind and deaf and
> >> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in
> intelligence during the
> >> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous
> Brooklyn Eagle! Socially blind and
> >> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system
> that is the cause of much
> >> of the physical blindness and deafness which we
> are trying to prevent."
> >> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for
> women's rights, disabled rights
> >> and believed in the inherit goodness of all
> people.  She knew Alexander
> >> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see
> if she could be cured of
> >> her deafness.  She did not believe in nor support
> eugenics.  She was a
> >> socialist which got her labeled as a communist,
> but she was in no way a
> >> eugenicist.  I met her when I was six years old
> and was totally enthralled
> >> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a
> totally oral school.
> >> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and
> her work for Deaf/Blind
> >> rights at a time when most disabled people were
> relegated to no education
> >> and menial labor.
> >> Mrs. Terry Commean
> >> Certified ASL Teacher
> >> Seminole High School
> >> Sanford, Florida
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Rob Nielson <>
> >> To:
> >> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> >> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
> >>
> >> Just out of curiosity -
> >>
> >> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
> >>
> >> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen
> Keller day and talk
> >> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you
> guys are aware that
> >> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
> >>
> >> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered
> herself a blind person
> >> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who
> was blind). She was
> >> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and
> other "less than
> >> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's
> followers. Ironically, the
> >> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly
> supported would have
> >> mean she should be "terminated" if those same
> standards were to apply
> >> to her.
> >>
> >> Just something to consider...
> >>
> >> Rob Nielson
> >> ASL Teacher
> >> Westwood High School
> >> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> >> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski
> <>
> >> wrote:
> >>> Does anyone have questions that go along with
> the movie "The Miracle
> >>> Worker"?
> >>>
> >>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message
> & attached documents may
> >>> contain
> >> confidential information.  All information is
> intended only for the use of
> >> the
> >> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate
> named recipient, you are not
> >> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or
> take any action in
> >> reliance on
> >> the information.  Any action, other than
> immediate delivery to the named
> >> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have
> received this email message
> >> in
> >> error, please notify the sender immediately and
> delete this message from
> >> your
> >> email system.  If you are the named recipient you
> are not authorized to
> >> reveal
> >> any of this information to any other unauthorized
> person.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She found her deafness to be very
distasteful to the point that she strenuously tried to learn to speak
and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was
to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who
don't satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to
live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the
reason she was so active at writing letters and giving lectures - to
justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 1:44 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all
>> people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was
>> also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America,
>> she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have
>> come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf
>> and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled
>> rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured
>> of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are
>> not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:20 PM, <> wrote:
> I love having my students try to "read" finger spelling in their hands as
> most Deaf/Blind people do and see if they can understand each other.
> Not as easy as it looks in the movie.
> Terry Commean

I agree, it takes a bit of practice to develop this skill.

I've had some Deaf/blind friends in the past that I would interpret
for. VERY tiring having them rest their hands on top of yours for an
hour straight! Definitely gave my shoulders a workout.



Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She likely found her deafness to be
very distasteful which could be one reason that she strenuously tried
to learn to speak and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb
now." Her goal was to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt
that individuals who don't satisfactorily contribute to society should
not be allowed to live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own
opinion) that was the reason she was so active at writing letters and
giving lectures - to justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

) Just an addednum -

Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a man -
Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics was VERY
big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him off because
they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to marry and
procreate.

It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a proponent for
everything that was against her very essence. This is the only reason
I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas. Yet, she
seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see through it?
Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone, except
her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to "validate" her
existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a victim of
her own standards?

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <> wrote:
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, �<> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
Well, that was dumb, her disability was acquired through an illness not heredity!

I do believe she worked very hard to prove herself as "an exception" to all the eugenics philosophy of the day. It's why she wrote and traveled so much, I bet.

It was a very sad situation, because even Annie's marriage didn't last because of feeling duty to Helen.

Gerrie Louden

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 10:57 AM
> Just an addednum -
>
> Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a
> man -
> Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics
> was VERY
> big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him
> off because
> they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to
> marry and
> procreate.
>
> It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a
> proponent for
> everything that was against her very essence. This is the
> only reason
> I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas.
> Yet, she
> seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see
> through it?
> Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone,
> except
> her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to
> "validate" her
> existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a
> victim of
> her own standards?
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <>
> wrote:
> > Take a moment and type words such as:
> >
> > Helen keller eugenics
> >
> > Or simply go to this link:
> >
> > http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
> >
> > Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the
> individuals and groups she
> > supported and read about them.
> >
> > In any case, spend an hour or two starting with
> eugenics and then
> > branch off from there to get to learn more about the
> "darker side" of
> > this "amazing woman."
> >
> > There were some who would argue that one reason she
> was so well-known
> > in higher circles is because she was used by them as a
> puppet to
> > promote their agendas - not really understanding that
> she was being
> > used as a type of "poster child."
> >
> > Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the
> things they fed
> > her and encouraged her to give speeches and write
> letters about? In
> > either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was
> outspoken when
> > it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization,
> abortion, and "life
> > is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
> >
> > Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia:
> Life, Death,
> > God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
> >
> > "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that
> Haiselden’s views
> > about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known
> American lawyer
> > Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the
> Scopes “Monkey”
> > Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden.
> When asked his
> > opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow
> answered
> > acerbically: “Chloroform unfit children. Show them
> the same mercy that
> > is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.”
> Blind and deaf
> > advocate Helen Keller added: “Our puny
> sentimentalism has caused us to
> > forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be
> of some use to
> > itself and to the world.”
> >
> > Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her
> lifetime? Yes,
> > I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right
> twice a day.
> >
> > Rob Nielson
> > ASL Teacher
> > Westwood High School
> > http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> > http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM,  <>
> wrote:
> >> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an
> advocate for Deaf and
> >> Blind people.  She was a follower of Swedenborg
> who believed that all people
> >> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to
> Heaven.  Helen Keller was also
> >> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and
> was outspoken in
> >> her opposition to war. She was member of
> the Socialist Party of America, she
> >> campaigned for women's suffrage, and socialism,
> as well as many
> >> other leftist causes.A quote by her " At that
> time the compliments he paid
> >> me were so generous that I blush to remember them.
> But now that I have come
> >> out for socialism he reminds me and the public
> that I am blind and deaf and
> >> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in
> intelligence during the
> >> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous
> Brooklyn Eagle! Socially blind and
> >> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system
> that is the cause of much
> >> of the physical blindness and deafness which we
> are trying to prevent."
> >> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for
> women's rights, disabled rights
> >> and believed in the inherit goodness of all
> people.  She knew Alexander
> >> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see
> if she could be cured of
> >> her deafness.  She did not believe in nor support
> eugenics.  She was a
> >> socialist which got her labeled as a communist,
> but she was in no way a
> >> eugenicist.  I met her when I was six years old
> and was totally enthralled
> >> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a
> totally oral school.
> >> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and
> her work for Deaf/Blind
> >> rights at a time when most disabled people were
> relegated to no education
> >> and menial labor.
> >> Mrs. Terry Commean
> >> Certified ASL Teacher
> >> Seminole High School
> >> Sanford, Florida
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Rob Nielson <>
> >> To:
> >> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> >> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
> >>
> >> Just out of curiosity -
> >>
> >> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
> >>
> >> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen
> Keller day and talk
> >> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you
> guys are aware that
> >> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
> >>
> >> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered
> herself a blind person
> >> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who
> was blind). She was
> >> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and
> other "less than
> >> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's
> followers. Ironically, the
> >> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly
> supported would have
> >> mean she should be "terminated" if those same
> standards were to apply
> >> to her.
> >>
> >> Just something to consider...
> >>
> >> Rob Nielson
> >> ASL Teacher
> >> Westwood High School
> >> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> >> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski
> <>
> >> wrote:
> >>> Does anyone have questions that go along with
> the movie "The Miracle
> >>> Worker"?
> >>>
> >>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message
> & attached documents may
> >>> contain
> >> confidential information.  All information is
> intended only for the use of
> >> the
> >> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate
> named recipient, you are not
> >> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or
> take any action in
> >> reliance on
> >> the information.  Any action, other than
> immediate delivery to the named
> >> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have
> received this email message
> >> in
> >> error, please notify the sender immediately and
> delete this message from
> >> your
> >> email system.  If you are the named recipient you
> are not authorized to
> >> reveal
> >> any of this information to any other unauthorized
> person.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She found her deafness to be very
distasteful to the point that she strenuously tried to learn to speak
and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was
to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who
don't satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to
live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the
reason she was so active at writing letters and giving lectures - to
justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 1:44 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all
>> people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was
>> also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America,
>> she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have
>> come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf
>> and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled
>> rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured
>> of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are
>> not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:20 PM, <> wrote:
> I love having my students try to "read" finger spelling in their hands as
> most Deaf/Blind people do and see if they can understand each other.
> Not as easy as it looks in the movie.
> Terry Commean

I agree, it takes a bit of practice to develop this skill.

I've had some Deaf/blind friends in the past that I would interpret
for. VERY tiring having them rest their hands on top of yours for an
hour straight! Definitely gave my shoulders a workout.



Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She likely found her deafness to be
very distasteful which could be one reason that she strenuously tried
to learn to speak and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb
now." Her goal was to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt
that individuals who don't satisfactorily contribute to society should
not be allowed to live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own
opinion) that was the reason she was so active at writing letters and
giving lectures - to justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful person
who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf community doesn't
make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give a
background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to ignore those
sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some time researching for
yourself (as I did). I was actually quite surprised at the things I learned.
Some of the most shocking things I discovered in my search came directly
from her own writings. Most of this I read in my research a couple of years
ago, so I don't have it readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the Deaf.)
Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and outspoken
supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed at
the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf community.
Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and interact with the
Deaf community? She likely found her deafness to be very distasteful which
could be one reason that she strenuously tried to learn to speak and some of
her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was to be as
hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who don't
satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to live. Which is
why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the reason she was so
active at writing letters and giving lectures - to justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case, I've put
forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time googling it
for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list who feels an urge
to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an evening and google Keller
as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone interested
in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of research. I've said
all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how she
stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome their
challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would agree with
that. Most people would probably have simply written the deaf/blind child
off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them for the rest of their
lives or have them put in an asylum if they couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. She earned her living traveling in this
> way. That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

) Just an addednum -

Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a man -
Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics was VERY
big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him off because
they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to marry and
procreate.

It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a proponent for
everything that was against her very essence. This is the only reason
I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas. Yet, she
seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see through it?
Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone, except
her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to "validate" her
existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a victim of
her own standards?

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <> wrote:
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, �<> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
Well, that was dumb, her disability was acquired through an illness not heredity!

I do believe she worked very hard to prove herself as "an exception" to all the eugenics philosophy of the day. It's why she wrote and traveled so much, I bet.

It was a very sad situation, because even Annie's marriage didn't last because of feeling duty to Helen.

Gerrie Louden

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 10:57 AM
> Just an addednum -
>
> Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a
> man -
> Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics
> was VERY
> big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him
> off because
> they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to
> marry and
> procreate.
>
> It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a
> proponent for
> everything that was against her very essence. This is the
> only reason
> I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas.
> Yet, she
> seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see
> through it?
> Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone,
> except
> her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to
> "validate" her
> existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a
> victim of
> her own standards?
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <>
> wrote:
> > Take a moment and type words such as:
> >
> > Helen keller eugenics
> >
> > Or simply go to this link:
> >
> > http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
> >
> > Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the
> individuals and groups she
> > supported and read about them.
> >
> > In any case, spend an hour or two starting with
> eugenics and then
> > branch off from there to get to learn more about the
> "darker side" of
> > this "amazing woman."
> >
> > There were some who would argue that one reason she
> was so well-known
> > in higher circles is because she was used by them as a
> puppet to
> > promote their agendas - not really understanding that
> she was being
> > used as a type of "poster child."
> >
> > Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the
> things they fed
> > her and encouraged her to give speeches and write
> letters about? In
> > either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was
> outspoken when
> > it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization,
> abortion, and "life
> > is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
> >
> > Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia:
> Life, Death,
> > God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
> >
> > "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that
> Haiselden’s views
> > about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known
> American lawyer
> > Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the
> Scopes “Monkey”
> > Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden.
> When asked his
> > opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow
> answered
> > acerbically: “Chloroform unfit children. Show them
> the same mercy that
> > is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.”
> Blind and deaf
> > advocate Helen Keller added: “Our puny
> sentimentalism has caused us to
> > forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be
> of some use to
> > itself and to the world.”
> >
> > Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her
> lifetime? Yes,
> > I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right
> twice a day.
> >
> > Rob Nielson
> > ASL Teacher
> > Westwood High School
> > http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> > http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM,  <>
> wrote:
> >> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an
> advocate for Deaf and
> >> Blind people.  She was a follower of Swedenborg
> who believed that all people
> >> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to
> Heaven.  Helen Keller was also
> >> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and
> was outspoken in
> >> her opposition to war. She was member of
> the Socialist Party of America, she
> >> campaigned for women's suffrage, and socialism,
> as well as many
> >> other leftist causes.A quote by her " At that
> time the compliments he paid
> >> me were so generous that I blush to remember them.
> But now that I have come
> >> out for socialism he reminds me and the public
> that I am blind and deaf and
> >> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in
> intelligence during the
> >> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous
> Brooklyn Eagle! Socially blind and
> >> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system
> that is the cause of much
> >> of the physical blindness and deafness which we
> are trying to prevent."
> >> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for
> women's rights, disabled rights
> >> and believed in the inherit goodness of all
> people.  She knew Alexander
> >> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see
> if she could be cured of
> >> her deafness.  She did not believe in nor support
> eugenics.  She was a
> >> socialist which got her labeled as a communist,
> but she was in no way a
> >> eugenicist.  I met her when I was six years old
> and was totally enthralled
> >> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a
> totally oral school.
> >> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and
> her work for Deaf/Blind
> >> rights at a time when most disabled people were
> relegated to no education
> >> and menial labor.
> >> Mrs. Terry Commean
> >> Certified ASL Teacher
> >> Seminole High School
> >> Sanford, Florida
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Rob Nielson <>
> >> To:
> >> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> >> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
> >>
> >> Just out of curiosity -
> >>
> >> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
> >>
> >> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen
> Keller day and talk
> >> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you
> guys are aware that
> >> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
> >>
> >> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered
> herself a blind person
> >> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who
> was blind). She was
> >> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and
> other "less than
> >> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's
> followers. Ironically, the
> >> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly
> supported would have
> >> mean she should be "terminated" if those same
> standards were to apply
> >> to her.
> >>
> >> Just something to consider...
> >>
> >> Rob Nielson
> >> ASL Teacher
> >> Westwood High School
> >> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> >> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski
> <>
> >> wrote:
> >>> Does anyone have questions that go along with
> the movie "The Miracle
> >>> Worker"?
> >>>
> >>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message
> & attached documents may
> >>> contain
> >> confidential information.  All information is
> intended only for the use of
> >> the
> >> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate
> named recipient, you are not
> >> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or
> take any action in
> >> reliance on
> >> the information.  Any action, other than
> immediate delivery to the named
> >> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have
> received this email message
> >> in
> >> error, please notify the sender immediately and
> delete this message from
> >> your
> >> email system.  If you are the named recipient you
> are not authorized to
> >> reveal
> >> any of this information to any other unauthorized
> person.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She found her deafness to be very
distasteful to the point that she strenuously tried to learn to speak
and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was
to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who
don't satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to
live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the
reason she was so active at writing letters and giving lectures - to
justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 1:44 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all
>> people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was
>> also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America,
>> she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have
>> come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf
>> and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled
>> rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured
>> of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are
>> not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:20 PM, <> wrote:
> I love having my students try to "read" finger spelling in their hands as
> most Deaf/Blind people do and see if they can understand each other.
> Not as easy as it looks in the movie.
> Terry Commean

I agree, it takes a bit of practice to develop this skill.

I've had some Deaf/blind friends in the past that I would interpret
for. VERY tiring having them rest their hands on top of yours for an
hour straight! Definitely gave my shoulders a workout.



Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She likely found her deafness to be
very distasteful which could be one reason that she strenuously tried
to learn to speak and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb
now." Her goal was to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt
that individuals who don't satisfactorily contribute to society should
not be allowed to live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own
opinion) that was the reason she was so active at writing letters and
giving lectures - to justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful person
who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf community doesn't
make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give a
background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to ignore those
sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some time researching for
yourself (as I did). I was actually quite surprised at the things I learned.
Some of the most shocking things I discovered in my search came directly
from her own writings. Most of this I read in my research a couple of years
ago, so I don't have it readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the Deaf.)
Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and outspoken
supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed at
the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf community.
Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and interact with the
Deaf community? She likely found her deafness to be very distasteful which
could be one reason that she strenuously tried to learn to speak and some of
her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was to be as
hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who don't
satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to live. Which is
why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the reason she was so
active at writing letters and giving lectures - to justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case, I've put
forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time googling it
for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list who feels an urge
to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an evening and google Keller
as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone interested
in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of research. I've said
all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how she
stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome their
challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would agree with
that. Most people would probably have simply written the deaf/blind child
off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them for the rest of their
lives or have them put in an asylum if they couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. She earned her living traveling in this
> way. That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean

) On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:20 PM, <> wrote:
> I love having my students try to "read" finger spelling in their hands as
> most Deaf/Blind people do and see if they can understand each other.
> Not as easy as it looks in the movie.
> Terry Commean


I agree, it takes a bit of practice to develop this skill.

I've had some Deaf/blind friends in the past that I would interpret
for. VERY tiring having them rest their hands on top of mine for an
hour straight! Definitely gave my shoulders a workout.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)

)

Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.

) Just out of curiosity -

How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?

I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.

She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
to her.

Just something to consider...

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <> wrote:
> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle Worker"?
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may contain confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>
>

) I show the Miracle Worker (and point out to the students at some point during it) to show the attitudes of that day and time toward people with disabilities. The people in the movie, like her parents, ask, "can she learn?" And teacher Annie proves that yes she can. Annie's attitude about Helen is that she should NOT be treated as a "disabled child"... and it was language that "unlocked" the door for Helen and the "window" for the people around her to see that yes, indeed, a person who can't hear (or see) has a wonderfully functioning brain that shouldn't be wasted. I also mention how society looked at deaf people in those days. (I show Johnny Belinda for the same reason, NOT to show how wonderful the doctor was, etc.)

I also show it because of how it mentions Annie's childhood and how she rose above it to become educated... again, to impress on my students that it doesn't matter what you "don't have", it matters what you do with what you DO have, which in the case of Deaf people, is a perfectly good brain that functions quite well without sound.

The movie takes place during Helen's childhood, and doesn't show anything about the kind of person she became or the strange philosophies she adopted later.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I want the kids to see what Deaf people in History had to go against...

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 9:06 AM
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller
> day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are
> aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a
> blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was
> blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other
> "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers.
> Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported
> would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards
> were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
> > Does anyone have questions that go along with the
> movie "The Miracle Worker"?
> >
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message &
> attached documents may contain confidential information.
> �All information is intended only for the use of the named
> recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient,
> you are not authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute
> or take any action in reliance on the information. �Any
> action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> email message in error, please notify the sender immediately
> and delete this message from your email system. �If you are
> the named recipient you are not authorized to reveal any of
> this information to any other unauthorized person.
> >
> >
>
>

)
Take a moment and type words such as:

Helen keller eugenics

Or simply go to this link:

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/

Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
supported and read about them.

In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
this "amazing woman."

There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
used as a type of "poster child."

Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.

Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:

"One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
itself and to the world.�

Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
> and menial labor.
> Mrs. Terry Commean
> Certified ASL Teacher
> Seminole High School
> Sanford, Florida
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Just out of curiosity -
>
> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>
> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>
> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
> to her.
>
> Just something to consider...
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
> wrote:
>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>> Worker"?
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>> contain
> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
> the
> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
> reliance on
> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
> in
> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
> your
> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
> reveal
> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>
>>
>

) Just an addednum -

Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a man -
Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics was VERY
big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him off because
they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to marry and
procreate.

It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a proponent for
everything that was against her very essence. This is the only reason
I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas. Yet, she
seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see through it?
Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone, except
her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to "validate" her
existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a victim of
her own standards?

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <> wrote:
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, �<> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America, she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
Well, that was dumb, her disability was acquired through an illness not heredity!

I do believe she worked very hard to prove herself as "an exception" to all the eugenics philosophy of the day. It's why she wrote and traveled so much, I bet.

It was a very sad situation, because even Annie's marriage didn't last because of feeling duty to Helen.

Gerrie Louden

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: Re: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 10:57 AM
> Just an addednum -
>
> Ironically there was a time when Keller fell in love with a
> man -
> Peter Fagan - and they planned to marry. However, eugenics
> was VERY
> big at that point. Her friends and family all chased him
> off because
> they did not want her (or any people with disabilities) to
> marry and
> procreate.
>
> It is such a convoluted and twisted situation. She was a
> proponent for
> everything that was against her very essence. This is the
> only reason
> I feel she was "used" by those promoting these agendas.
> Yet, she
> seemed to be a pretty sharp woman, so why didn't she see
> through it?
> Or maybe she felt that these standards applied to everyone,
> except
> her? Or maybe she felt she needed to work hard to
> "validate" her
> existence by being so outspoken so that she wouldn't be a
> victim of
> her own standards?
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:44 PM, Rob Nielson <>
> wrote:
> > Take a moment and type words such as:
> >
> > Helen keller eugenics
> >
> > Or simply go to this link:
> >
> > http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
> >
> > Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the
> individuals and groups she
> > supported and read about them.
> >
> > In any case, spend an hour or two starting with
> eugenics and then
> > branch off from there to get to learn more about the
> "darker side" of
> > this "amazing woman."
> >
> > There were some who would argue that one reason she
> was so well-known
> > in higher circles is because she was used by them as a
> puppet to
> > promote their agendas - not really understanding that
> she was being
> > used as a type of "poster child."
> >
> > Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the
> things they fed
> > her and encouraged her to give speeches and write
> letters about? In
> > either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was
> outspoken when
> > it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization,
> abortion, and "life
> > is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
> >
> > Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia:
> Life, Death,
> > God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
> >
> > "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that
> Haiselden’s views
> > about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known
> American lawyer
> > Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the
> Scopes “Monkey”
> > Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden.
> When asked his
> > opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow
> answered
> > acerbically: “Chloroform unfit children. Show them
> the same mercy that
> > is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.”
> Blind and deaf
> > advocate Helen Keller added: “Our puny
> sentimentalism has caused us to
> > forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be
> of some use to
> > itself and to the world.”
> >
> > Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her
> lifetime? Yes,
> > I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right
> twice a day.
> >
> > Rob Nielson
> > ASL Teacher
> > Westwood High School
> > http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> > http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM,  <>
> wrote:
> >> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an
> advocate for Deaf and
> >> Blind people.  She was a follower of Swedenborg
> who believed that all people
> >> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to
> Heaven.  Helen Keller was also
> >> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and
> was outspoken in
> >> her opposition to war. She was member of
> the Socialist Party of America, she
> >> campaigned for women's suffrage, and socialism,
> as well as many
> >> other leftist causes.A quote by her " At that
> time the compliments he paid
> >> me were so generous that I blush to remember them.
> But now that I have come
> >> out for socialism he reminds me and the public
> that I am blind and deaf and
> >> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in
> intelligence during the
> >> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous
> Brooklyn Eagle! Socially blind and
> >> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system
> that is the cause of much
> >> of the physical blindness and deafness which we
> are trying to prevent."
> >> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for
> women's rights, disabled rights
> >> and believed in the inherit goodness of all
> people.  She knew Alexander
> >> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see
> if she could be cured of
> >> her deafness.  She did not believe in nor support
> eugenics.  She was a
> >> socialist which got her labeled as a communist,
> but she was in no way a
> >> eugenicist.  I met her when I was six years old
> and was totally enthralled
> >> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a
> totally oral school.
> >> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and
> her work for Deaf/Blind
> >> rights at a time when most disabled people were
> relegated to no education
> >> and menial labor.
> >> Mrs. Terry Commean
> >> Certified ASL Teacher
> >> Seminole High School
> >> Sanford, Florida
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Rob Nielson <>
> >> To:
> >> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
> >> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
> >>
> >> Just out of curiosity -
> >>
> >> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf
> culture/history?
> >>
> >> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen
> Keller day and talk
> >> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you
> guys are aware that
> >> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
> >>
> >> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered
> herself a blind person
> >> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who
> was blind). She was
> >> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and
> other "less than
> >> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's
> followers. Ironically, the
> >> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly
> supported would have
> >> mean she should be "terminated" if those same
> standards were to apply
> >> to her.
> >>
> >> Just something to consider...
> >>
> >> Rob Nielson
> >> ASL Teacher
> >> Westwood High School
> >> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> >> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski
> <>
> >> wrote:
> >>> Does anyone have questions that go along with
> the movie "The Miracle
> >>> Worker"?
> >>>
> >>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message
> & attached documents may
> >>> contain
> >> confidential information.  All information is
> intended only for the use of
> >> the
> >> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate
> named recipient, you are not
> >> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or
> take any action in
> >> reliance on
> >> the information.  Any action, other than
> immediate delivery to the named
> >> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have
> received this email message
> >> in
> >> error, please notify the sender immediately and
> delete this message from
> >> your
> >> email system.  If you are the named recipient you
> are not authorized to
> >> reveal
> >> any of this information to any other unauthorized
> person.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She found her deafness to be very
distasteful to the point that she strenuously tried to learn to speak
and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was
to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who
don't satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to
live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the
reason she was so active at writing letters and giving lectures - to
justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Nielson <>
> To:
> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 1:44 pm
> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>
> Take a moment and type words such as:
>
> Helen keller eugenics
>
> Or simply go to this link:
>
> http://newsrealblog.com/2009/10/10/the-forgotten-side-of-helen-keller/
>
> Scroll down to the bottom, pick some of the individuals and groups she
> supported and read about them.
>
> In any case, spend an hour or two starting with eugenics and then
> branch off from there to get to learn more about the "darker side" of
> this "amazing woman."
>
> There were some who would argue that one reason she was so well-known
> in higher circles is because she was used by them as a puppet to
> promote their agendas - not really understanding that she was being
> used as a type of "poster child."
>
> Was she really a puppet, or did she really believe the things they fed
> her and encouraged her to give speeches and write letters about? In
> either case, make no mistake, she most definitely was outspoken when
> it came to things such as eugenics, sterilization, abortion, and "life
> is not sacred unless it is useful." etc.
>
> Here is a quote from A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death,
> God, and Medicine by Ian Dowbiggin:
>
> "One thing the Baby Bollinger story proved was that Haiselden�s views
> about euthanasia were not unique. The well-known American lawyer
> Clarence Darrow, future defense attorney during the Scopes �Monkey�
> Trial of 1925, agreed wholeheartedly with Haiselden. When asked his
> opinion of the Baby Bollinger controversy, Darrow answered
> acerbically: �Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that
> is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.� Blind and deaf
> advocate Helen Keller added: �Our puny sentimentalism has caused us to
> forget that a human life is sacred only when it may be of some use to
> itself and to the world.�
>
> Did she say some uplifting and inspiring things in her lifetime? Yes,
> I'll concede that, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 11:44 AM, <> wrote:
>> Helen Keller was an amazing woman who was both an advocate for Deaf and
>> Blind people. �She was a follower of Swedenborg who believed that all
>> people
>> regardless of their faith, were ALL going to Heaven. �Helen Keller was
>> also
>> a prolific author, Keller was well-traveled, and was outspoken in
>> her�opposition to war. She was�member of the�Socialist Party of America,
>> she
>> campaigned for�women's suffrage, and socialism, as well as many
>> other�leftist�causes.A quote by her "�At that time the compliments he paid
>> me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have
>> come
>> out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf
>> and
>> especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the
>> years since I met him...Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn�Eagle! Socially blind and
>> deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of much
>> of the physical blindness and deafness which we are trying to prevent."
>> I teach Helen Keller because she fought for women's rights, disabled
>> rights
>> and believed in the inherit goodness of all people. �She knew Alexander
>> Graham Bell because her parents went to him to see if she could be cured
>> of
>> her deafness. �She did not believe in nor support eugenics. �She was a
>> socialist which got her labeled as a communist, but she was in no way a
>> eugenicist. �I met her when I was six years old and was totally enthralled
>> with her as a young hard of hearing girl in a totally oral school.
>> I will be proud to continue teaching about her and her work for Deaf/Blind
>> rights at a time when most disabled people were relegated to no education
>> and menial labor.
>> Mrs. Terry Commean
>> Certified ASL Teacher
>> Seminole High School
>> Sanford, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rob Nielson <>
>> To:
>> Sent: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06 pm
>> Subject: Re: The Miracle Worker
>>
>> Just out of curiosity -
>>
>> How does "The Miracle Worker" tie in to Deaf culture/history?
>>
>> I know that some ASL teachers like to have a Helen Keller day and talk
>> about Keller's life, etc. But I'm wondering if you guys are aware that
>> most Deaf do not view Keller favorably.
>>
>> She is not one of us. In fact, she considered herself a blind person
>> who could not hear (Rather than a Deaf person who was blind). She was
>> a proponent of eugenics to eradicate deafness and other "less than
>> perfect" people. She was one of AG Bell's followers. Ironically, the
>> same standards of eugenics that she so strongly supported would have
>> mean she should be "terminated" if those same standards were to apply
>> to her.
>>
>> Just something to consider...
>>
>> Rob Nielson
>> ASL Teacher
>> Westwood High School
>> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
>> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Kirby Borski <>
>> wrote:
>>> Does anyone have questions that go along with the movie "The Miracle
>>> Worker"?
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message & attached documents may
>>> contain
>> confidential information. �All information is intended only for the use of
>> the
>> named recipient. If you are not the appropriate named recipient, you are
>> not
>> authorized to read, disclose, copy, distribute or take any action in
>> reliance on
>> the information. �Any action, other than immediate delivery to the named
>> recipient, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message
>> in
>> error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from
>> your
>> email system. �If you are the named recipient you are not authorized to
>> reveal
>> any of this information to any other unauthorized person.
>>>
>>>
>>
>

)
On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:20 PM, <> wrote:
> I love having my students try to "read" finger spelling in their hands as
> most Deaf/Blind people do and see if they can understand each other.
> Not as easy as it looks in the movie.
> Terry Commean

I agree, it takes a bit of practice to develop this skill.

I've had some Deaf/blind friends in the past that I would interpret
for. VERY tiring having them rest their hands on top of yours for an
hour straight! Definitely gave my shoulders a workout.



Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful
person who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf
community doesn't make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give
a background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to
ignore those sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some
time researching for yourself (as I did). I was actually quite
surprised at the things I learned. Some of the most shocking things I
discovered in my search came directly from her own writings. Most of
this I read in my research a couple of years ago, so I don't have it
readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the
Deaf.) Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and
outspoken supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed
at the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf
community. Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and
interact with the Deaf community? She likely found her deafness to be
very distasteful which could be one reason that she strenuously tried
to learn to speak and some of her first words were - "I am not dumb
now." Her goal was to be as hearing-like as possible. She also felt
that individuals who don't satisfactorily contribute to society should
not be allowed to live. Which is why I speculated (purely my own
opinion) that was the reason she was so active at writing letters and
giving lectures - to justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case,
I've put forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time
googling it for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list
who feels an urge to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an
evening and google Keller as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone
interested in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of
research. I've said all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how
she stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome
their challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would
agree with that. Most people would probably have simply written the
deaf/blind child off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them
for the rest of their lives or have them put in an asylum if they
couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! �Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. �She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. �She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. �She earned her living traveling in this
> way. �That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. �The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. �The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. �Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. �Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. �She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. �Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." �I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. �We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> �Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> �Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean

)
I understand your views, but just because you feel she is a wonderful person
who was an advocate for the Deaf and a member of the Deaf community doesn't
make it so.

I'm not just quoting "one blog." There are NUMEROUS sources that give a
background on Keller. You have a choice of either continuing to ignore those
sources and holding to your beliefs, or spending some time researching for
yourself (as I did). I was actually quite surprised at the things I learned.
Some of the most shocking things I discovered in my search came directly
from her own writings. Most of this I read in my research a couple of years
ago, so I don't have it readily available anymore.

Saying that Keller was an advocate for the Deaf and part of the Deaf
community is like saying that A.G. Bell was a supporter of the Deaf
community. (Which we all know, AGB is anything but a supporter of the Deaf.)
Keller was a very close friend of Bell and was a strong and outspoken
supporter of his views.

I could care less about her political views and not sure why you keep
bringing up her political views. My comments are specifically directed at
the fact that she was NOT a supporter, or a member, of the Deaf community.
Can you show me any evidence where she would seek out and interact with the
Deaf community? She likely found her deafness to be very distasteful which
could be one reason that she strenuously tried to learn to speak and some of
her first words were - "I am not dumb now." Her goal was to be as
hearing-like as possible. She also felt that individuals who don't
satisfactorily contribute to society should not be allowed to live. Which is
why I speculated (purely my own opinion) that was the reason she was so
active at writing letters and giving lectures - to justify her own existence.

You don't have to take my word for all this. Spend an evening googling
Keller. Then you'll understand my comments about her. In any case, I've put
forth a bit of evidence and encouraged you to spend some time googling it
for yourself. I also encourage everyone else on this list who feels an urge
to mention Keller in their classrooms to take an evening and google Keller
as well.

There's really no need to continue this "back and forth." Anyone interested
in the truth can find it for themselves with a bit of research. I've said
all I want/need to say on this topic.

Now, for those of you who feel Anne Sullivan was a true hero in how she
stubbornly persisted in helping a deaf/blind child to overcome their
challenges and to learn how to interact with the world, I would agree with
that. Most people would probably have simply written the deaf/blind child
off and given them a nursemaid to clean up after them for the rest of their
lives or have them put in an asylum if they couldn't afford a nursemaid.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)



On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:15 PM, <> wrote:
> Helen Keller was labeled by many to be many different things because she was
> outspoken for a woman in her time and also outspoken as a disabled woman in
> her time! Her love for Swedenborg also got her labeled because he was a
> socialist. She also considered herself a socialist and a proud
> Swedenborgian. She also traveled in the burlesque circuits speaking after
> the strippers had been on stage. She earned her living traveling in this
> way. That is just one blog that again, is labeling her as a eugenicist
> which she herself said she was not! She was labeled because of a letter she
> wrote about the Bollinger baby. The baby had many facial abnormalities and
> died five days after being born. The parents were told to not do surgery as
> the baby would suffer and die anyway. Helen Keller wrote a letter about
> this baby and hence the famous quote you wrote in your letter. Today, we
> have the technology to help children with such facial abnormalities, back in
> that time, the surgery was primitive and the child would have suffered
> tremendous pain and the surgery would not have been successful. She later
> advocated for another baby who had a disease of the eyes that would have
> affected her brain, she wrote to the parents suggesting that being blind was
> not the worst evil that could befall their child, and she would live without
> her brain being affected.
> We are all supposed to pull together in the Deaf community and she was a
> part of our community along with many other famous Deaf Americans like
> William Hoy, Shelley Beattie, Heather Whitestone etc. Each of these people
> might have belief systems or have made choices that we personally would not
> have made, for example, William "Dummy" Hoy and he didn't mind being called
> "Dummy." I hated that my school was called Fort Lauderdale School for the
> Deaf and Dumb until about 1968!
> But we are all still supposed to support each other in this community and
> Helen Keller is a part of our community regardless of her belief system. We
> will have Deaf out there who will not sign because they were taught that
> sign language was evil and kept one from learning how to speak correctly.
> Now we know better and ASL is finally being accepted and even taught in
> high schools with full foreign language credit and acceptance by colleges.
> Look how far we have come...
> Sincerely,
> Mrs. Terry Commean

) On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:20 PM, <> wrote:
> I love having my students try to "read" finger spelling in their hands as
> most Deaf/Blind people do and see if they can understand each other.
> Not as easy as it looks in the movie.
> Terry Commean


I agree, it takes a bit of practice to develop this skill.

I've had some Deaf/blind friends in the past that I would interpret
for. VERY tiring having them rest their hands on top of mine for an
hour straight! Definitely gave my shoulders a workout.

Rob Nielson
ASL Teacher
Westwood High School
http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors (teachers forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers email list)

)
Yes, it's shocking how tiring it is to interpret for a deaf-blind person! I loved interpreting, but kind of dreaded the tactile interpreting because it was so tiring. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the company of the lady I interpreted for -- she was brilliant and funny -- I was her "substitute" interpreter-assistant when I worked as an SSA-I for VR.

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, Rob Nielson <> wrote:

> From: Rob Nielson <>
> Subject: [TEACHASL] The Miracle Worker
> To:
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 3:42 PM
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 1:20
> PM,� <>
> wrote:
> > I love having my students try to "read" finger
> spelling in their hands as
> > most Deaf/Blind people do and see if they can
> understand each other.
> > Not as easy as it looks in the movie.
> > Terry Commean
>
>
> I agree, it takes a bit of practice to develop this skill.
>
> I've had some Deaf/blind friends in the past that I would
> interpret
> for. VERY tiring having them rest their hands on top of
> mine for an
> hour straight! Definitely gave my shoulders a workout.
>
> Rob Nielson
> ASL Teacher
> Westwood High School
> http://www.WestwoodASL.com (COOL website!)
> http://www.westwoodasl.com/ASLInstructors
> (teachers forum)
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASLInstructors (teachers
> email list)
>
>

)