05/07/2014

Laura Bridgman Laura Bridgman, photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Ever heard of Laura Bridgman? Bridgman is generally acknowledged as the first deaf-blind child to be successfully educated. Here's an interesting article from Slate about her life titled "The Education of Laura Bridgman. She was Helen Keller before Helen Keller. Then her mentor abandoned their studies."

As I read the piece, excerpted from the book For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches From the World of the Blind by Rosemary Mahoney, I couldn't help but think how very different Bridgman's life might have been under the loving care of Anne Sullivan Macy. It underscored how critical it is for students to have access to good teachers and services, and how important it is that we advocate for the passage of The Cogswell-Macy Act, introduced in Congress in February 2014.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the article.