“Helen Keller was never really blind and deaf. She was a fraud!”
It turns out she was just partially deaf and needed glasses to see! There are a lot of boring details that I don’t feel like getting into, but the point is that they found out her entire story was some big lie for publicity. Now you have solid proof that she was fake, and no one can tell you otherwise!
Super cool, right? It would be, except this information came from a guy making a TikTok in his mom’s basement.
With the help of various social media sites like TikTok, speculation about the reality of Helen Keller has only grown. While there have always been those with doubts about the accuracy of her story, questions surrounding Helen Keller’s existence and abilities have only grown. Opinions on whether she was a total fraud or just a partial one have landed many individuals in passionate debates with friends and peers who either share their thoughts or oppose them. Oftentimes, exaggerated social media videos are people’s main source of evidence for their claims.
While TikTok can provide historical information, like presenting viewers with random facts about the Tudors or news that a woman archaeologist discovered Cleopatra’s tomb, it has also fed into the mindset that information influencers give via in-your-face videos are accurate. Depending on your feed, you will likely get videos that align with your take on things, including Helen Keller.
Every few months, something about Helen Keller resurfaces on the internet, sparking new heated debates. Each time, people go into depth about her achievements and whether they are real or simply a hoax. However, to accurately uncover the facts about Helen Keller, it is important to look past questionable TikTok videos and instead take a closer look at the conspiracies through a historical lens.
Was She Actually Blind and Deaf?
One commonly seen speculation on TikTok is that Helen Keller was only partially blind and deaf. One user stated, “I’m convinced she was not 100% blind and 100% deaf. I genuinely believe that she was meant to be some, like, inspirational story to prove that kids can do whatever they put their mind to!” While certain people may think this, it’s not true. According to both Perkins.org and McGill University, Keller became completely blind and deaf at 19 months old, with scarlet fever or meningitis believed to be the cause.
This particular misconception appears frequently throughout Davie’s students. As shown in a small poll, most students believe that Keller was not fully blind or deaf but rather legally blind and deaf. Whether these opinions are entirely based on their thoughts or semi-influenced by TikTok conspiracies is unknown. However, it is not an extreme reach to assume that many of these Keller disputes are sparked by influencers sharing their opinions and stating their version of facts, resulting in the spread of misinformation.
How Could She Have Done So Much?
While it isn’t as often that people debate the truth of Keller’s disabilities, it is certainly not uncommon to debate her stated accomplishments. There have been many claims made, such as declaring that she flew a plane, wrote and published many books, became a public speaker, and many others. One of the biggest arguments expressed by both our students and millions of people on TikTok was that if she couldn’t see or hear, then how could she do anything at all? How would it be possible to fly a whole plane without seeing the sky in front of you or to project your thoughts and feelings onto pages when you can’t even express them out loud?
This has to be the biggest debate about Helen Keller, both online and in person. As shown by the poll from over 30 DCHS students, most people doubt the true extent of Keller’s achievements. The claim that she flew a plane was strongly disagreed with by 42.9% of these students. Similarly, 40.6% of students believed that Keller only partially assisted in the writing of her books. As a whole, it seems many students believe Keller did not fully accomplish everything that she claimed to have done.
“She was alive during the Cold War,” sophomore Mack Ridenhour said. “I think she was used to boost American morale.”
What We “Learn” Online
It is likely that most people got these opinions from podcast-like TikToks or people passionately explaining their detailed reasons why Helen Keller was, in fact, “not real.” Davie students have stated opinions that seem to be inspired by the public ones—“I think she just sat there and didn’t actually do anything,” “She’s fake. It’s all a conspiracy!” or even, “How can you learn a whole language with writing on your palm?”
Statements similar to these persist on social media, leading to the belief that students do indeed get a lot of their information from places like TikTok. The Helen Keller debate is only one major example. Users can talk about how she was entirely fake and never existed in the first place, and people might believe it, as 21.9% of the survey participants did.
On social media, at least, there is a lack of claims supporting Keller’s existence or accomplishments. It is in these spaces where we “learn” that Keller did not fly a plane, write books, or become a public speaker. How could she? Think about how much of this information is verified instead of just an off-the-top-of-my-head rant — something that everyone is guilty of doing at least once in their lifetime.
For those on the side claiming Keller was a hoax when they put themselves into her perspective, things are nothing. Words, thoughts, one’s sense of the world—none of these things make any sense for her to know about. They don’t exist, and really, nothing exists. For those on the side of Keller’s story being a full truth, she simply used her surroundings and what senses she had left to maneuver her way through the dark and silent world. The only one she had ever known, learning to communicate along the way.
No matter how much evidence is collected for either claim, it seems likely that this passionate debate will continue to hold for a long, long time. With the talk among peers and the witnessing of social media videos that agree with you, the Keller controversy is unlikely to ever burn out. This only spreads as generations continue, with each side claiming new ways to back their statements and fiercely fighting for their side in this rather comical dispute.
