Brooks Hamilton: Honoring Helen Keller’s Legacy & Communication Rights

Podcast: The David Kaufer Podcast: The Lighter Side of the Spectrum · David Kaufer

Opublikowano: 2026-05-08

David welcomes Brooks Hamilton, Helen Keller’s great-grandniece, to discuss Keller’s legacy as a lesson about access, support, belief, and a path to communication, and why many nonspeakers are still doubted and denied communication. Brooks describes growing up with family stories of Helen’s communication methods and how that shaped her commitment to “go the extra mile” to connect with others. She shares how she once assumed nonspeakers were cognitively impaired based on what teachers and experts said, then had an “aha” moment learning about presuming competence, apraxia, spelling, and neuroplasticity, calling current practices a civil-rights issue. They compare Keller...