Chapter three
“I Can Speak”

Just before Helen’s eighth birthday, Mrs, keller, Anne, and Helen got on a train for Massachusetts. They planned to spend the summer in Boston and by the ocean at cape Cod. At the end of the summer, Helen and Ann would stay in Boston. Helen was going to be a student at Perkins Institute.
This trip was very differenr from Helen’s last train ride. This time, she understood where they were going and why. She sat by the window and spelled many questions into Anne’s hand.

For the first time in her life, helen had friends her own age. The blind children at the institute all knew how to spell letters into each other’s hands. Helen made friends quickly.
At this time, the public started to become aware of Helen. This was the beginning of Helen’s fame. Newspapers in Boston started printing stories about the little blind and deaf girl from Alabama. People were impressed that she could read and understand words. Many teachers and famous people started to visit Helen. Even the queen of England heard about Helen Keller.
Helen didn’t become spoiled from all this attention. She was busy studying Latin, German, and arithmetic.
“Helen consumes books as if they were cookies,” said Dr. Anganos, the school director.
At the age of eleven, Helen began to write books and poem herself.

During Helen’s second year at Perkins, she heard a sad story. It was about a little blind and deaf boy named Tommy who had no family. “We have to help him,” Helen said to Anne.
Anne, Helen, and some other students had a party to raise money. They raised enough money to bring little Tommy to the Perkins Institute.
After Tommy learned his first words, Helen was very proud of him. By helping Tommy, Helen learned how good it feels to help others. 
One day, Helen heard some hopeful news. A blind-deaf girl like her had been taught to use her own voice. She could speak clearly. Helen wanted to learn how to do this too.
Anne and Helen found a teacher at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston. Her name was Miss Sarah Fuller.

Miss Fuller put Helen’s hand on her face while she said the letters of the alphabet. The Helen would try to copy the way Miss Fuller’s mouth and tongue moved. It was very difficult and tiring work. Over and over, Helen would try to make the sounds of letters.
After each lesson, Helen would practice with Anne. At last, one day she could say a whole sentence that Anne could understand.
In her own voice, Helen said, “I am not dumb,” Anne pressed Helen’s hand in joy.
The next week was a school vacation. Helen was bursting with excitement. She wanted to show her family that she could talk.
Helen’s parents and little sister were waiting for them at the train station. When they heard Helen greet them with her own voice, they were amazed and hugged Helen.

When Helen was fourteen years old, she went to the Wright- Hemanson School in New York. Anne sat beside Helen in class. She would spell the teacher’s words into Helen’s hand.
While she was in New York, Helen met a very famous writer named Mark Twain. He was a very humorous man, and he told Helen many funny stories. He liked to make Helen laugh and they became friends.
“I lecture to thousands of people,” Said Mr. Twain, “but Helen is my best audience.”
Helen had decided to go to college. This was a very difficult thing to do. First she had to go to another school and study to prepare for college. It would mean long, hard work. The school would be expensive, but she had no money. Her father is ill, and could not afford this kind of education.
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