[Colorado-Talk] Helen Keller Video

[doula.jarboe at gmail.com]

Hello,

 

     Thanks for alerting us to this video.  I have not watched it myself, but as a DeafBlind person it saddens me that people are spreading such a negative view.  I’m not sure what sighted teacher they are talking about, because Annie Sulbbivan who was her first teacher was blind.  I think she had some useable vision, but she attended Perkin’s before she was Helen Keller’s first teacher.  I know the President of our national DeafBlind division is aware of this video, and I’m sure we will be discussing ideas of how to combat what it is doing and teaching. 

Warmly,

Doula  

 

From: Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Cerridwyn Nordstrom via Colorado-Talk
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2023 10:58 AM
To: colorado-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Cerridwyn Nordstrom <iamcerridwyn at gmail.com>
Subject: [Colorado-Talk] Helen Keller Video

 

Hi All, 

 

I hope you all are well after the Convention this weekend. I mostly just lurk in the forum, however, a viral video with 1.3 million views has been brought to my attention. I am going to tag the video below, but I also want to put a trigger warning here for ableism, particularly towards the Deaf Blind community. 

 

Here is the link to the video: https://www.tiktok.com/@immadisonnn/video/7290734183389957418?_r=1 <https://www.tiktok.com/@immadisonnn/video/7290734183389957418?_r=1&_t=8gwoYAbTBxG> &_t=8gwoYAbTBxG 

 

The video is a family discussing Helen Keller and how there is no way that she can be real. They talk about how there is no way she could have written books, flown a plane or done any of the other great things she did. Basically, this video just reinforces the the idea Deaf Blind people can't achieve the great things that Helen Keller achieved, that her sighted teacher was really the one doing everything, and just generally reinforces low standards. The ablism in the video is so blatant. I am not sure what, if anything we can do it combat the impact of this video which has over a million views, but this is not the first time I have heard the sentiment online that Helen Keller is not "real" and the idea seems to be becoming more mainstream. 

 

I hope you all are keeping warm in the snow, and I would love to hear y'all's thoughts. 

Take care,

Cerridwyn Nordstrom (She, her, hers)

“‘No’ has fueled many a revolution.”
                                                      - Cheryl Marie Wade 

Member of the National Federation of the Blind and the National Assocaition of Blind Lawyers

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