Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Demonstrate Self-taught Form of Facilitated Communication

Helen Keller, the blind and deaf American author, political activist and lecturer, is seen in this 1930 newsreel clip as her instructor and lifelong companion, Anne Sullivan, demonstrated how Keller learned to talk.

While often described as blind, deaf and mute, the final line of this rare footage proves otherwise. At the end of the clip, Miss Keller is seen speaking the line “I Am Not DUMB now!”, proving that she was indeed not mute, but could speak with the proper training and support, which Sullivan developed out of the necessity to be able to communicate with her.