Annee’s Experience at Helen Keller National Center

Title Slide: Meet Annee

So, when I first arrived at Helen Keller, I felt like the world was very small for me. I had a lot of fears. I feared traveling alone. I couldn’t hear what was going on around me very well. I couldn’t really interpret what was going on around me very well. I knew that I needed something.

When I got here, I couldn’t cope very well with my hearing loss. I know what to do with the blindness, but I didn’t know how to deal with a dual sensory loss. So given all that, Helen Keller staff have walked beside me, encouraged me, challenged me, to think about the world again, in a more open way.

They have given me sign language, haptics, re-credentialing in braille. The ability to feel like I can travel alone again with communication cards. I’ve just gotten so much out of this experience.

I’ve gotten more technology skills. I can operate my braille display to travel through Manhattan with a GPS now. With my two DeafBlind friends. We went out alone and traveled. I just– I feel like my world is open again. And that’s what Helen Keller has given me. [End of Transcript]