Helen Keller learned to speak, read, and write in spite of becoming blind and deaf at the age of two due to an illness. As a child, Helen was frustrated and unmanageable but her mother never gave up on her. Helen's life changed when a teacher, Annie Sullivan, came into her life. Annie won Helen's trust and was able to teach Helen to speak, read, and write. Helen had Annie at her side when she became the first deaf-blind person to get a college degree. She used her fame to raise money for deaf and blind people and to fight for women's rights. Helen Keller lived to the age of 80 and died in 1968.