Miracle Worker

My daughter has been watching a dvd she borrowed from the library called "Miracle Worker". It's about Hellen Keller and Ann Sullivan. My daughter, 8, has probably watched it about 4 times now. For some reason it has really caught her fancy, despite being an older, black and white film.

I can't imagine that she can grasp the concept of the complexity of it - living in the world as both a deaf and blind person, of the limits in resources for people with disabilities during those times.

How much mind sets have changed since then! Then, nothing was expected of someone in Hellen's "condition". Now? Everyone, disabilities or no, are expected to reach their maximum potential. And those potentials are measured against people of legend. Such as Hellen Keller.

What Hellen, and Ann, accomplished is mind boggling to me. Miraculous. I wonder if even Ann was surprised, in the end, by what Hellen accomplished. Was Hellen meeting expectations, or exceeding them? Don't forget, Hellen read lips - and she was blind!

For all that Hellen accomplished, I think it's important to remember that she didn't do it alone. Ann played an enormous roll in the extent of Hellen's accomplishments. Ann didn't sit back and expect Hellen to excel. Ann actually bled to see Hellen succeed.

My point I suppose is that for every person who expects someone else to be a Hellen Keller, they need first to be willing to be an Ann.