Are the stories of Helen Keller's life achievements just a made up scam? No, that's not true: A vague conspiracy aims to erase the well-documented life achievements of Helen Keller. The American author and social activist was both deaf and blind from an illness in early childhood. She was a public figure who traveled and mainly communicated through an interpreter with words spelled into her hand, and by reading and writing in braille. A 1919 "fictionalized" silent film about her life featured a scene where she rode in a biplane passenger seat. Overdramatization of this early film does not negate the true accomplishments in her long and well-documented life.
One example of this baseless conspiracy appears in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on Jan. 13, 2026. It is captioned:
The first time I realized they were lying to us was in 8th grade when they tried telling me Helen Keller was blind/deaf and she learned how to speak from a teacher that was also blind and deaf, went on to write 14 books, 1,000s of essays, traveled all around the world to give speeches to push socialismSchool from that point forward felt like a joke that I was forced to participate in and play the game
Edit: thanks for letting me know they say she also flew a plane.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0cSAaEzKpqGjcA1xurjHpmQhtei1jpbA5xPeewWgsuL2jvxv5ahSD8AwbiPUqAhWtl&id=61573961204399.)
The scope of this fact check is the false conspiracy that Keller was a fraud. It will not extend to presenting her life's achievements which are described elsewhere such as this article (archived here) on Britannica.
This post's stated conspiracy is vague and not supported by any evidence except the purported disbelief of an eighth-grader. The post's claim that Keller's teacher was also disbelievably deaf and blind is false, and is a classic example of the straw man fallacy (archived here). Famous in her own right, Anne Sullivan was not deaf, and no credible sources say she was. She was blind, her vision was partially restored with surgery, and at the end of her life she was again blind. Sullivan attended Perkins School for the Blind. A FAQ (archived here) about Sullivan on the school's website explains how she learned the finger spelling technique she later taught to Keller:
Sullivan learned finger-spelling from Laura Bridgman. A graduate of Perkins, Bridgman was the first person with deafblindness to get a formal education. The two spent time together when Sullivan was a student at Perkins. Bridgman taught her how to form letters with her fingers to spell out words in the palm of a hand. Sullivan used that finger-spelling method to teach Helen Keller how to communicate.
Additional aspects of the Helen Keller conspiracies on social media are outlined in a feature (archived here) on the Know Your Meme website. A Facebook post (archived here) published on Dec. 29, 2025, contains some more conspiracy details, claiming "Helen Keller was a FRAUD!" The first point states:
Medical Board Archives from 1902-1924 contain examination reports showing Helen Keller had functional vision and hearing throughout her "disabled" life.
There is no record of these examination reports. A Google search for the terms "Helen Keller" AND "Medical Board Archives 1902-1924 examination reports" did not produce any relevant results but did point to many duplicate copies of the false claim on social media. A search (archived here) within the website of the American Foundation for the Blind, in the Helen Keller Archive, for the phrase "1902-1924 examination reports" also found no results.
Another point put forward by this conspiracy is that Keller was a cash cow for Sullivan, that the appearance of Keller's intellect was just Sullivan speaking through a woman with kindergarten level abilities. But Anne Sullivan died in 1936 and Keller did not die until 1968. Had Keller's persona been enabled by fakery put on by Sullivan it would have become apparent. Keller's full life with travels and engagements continued with another companion, Polly Thompson, who also interpreted for her with finger-spelling.
It was Thompson who finger-spelled instructions from the pilot to Keller as she held the controls of an airplane and flew for twenty minutes over the Mediterranean. The account of this event was written up in a Glasgow newspaper, "The Bulletin" (archived here) in the end of June 1946. It reads in part:
She told the story by the same means as she piloted the 'plane, through hand " talk " between herself and the Scotswoman who has been her devoted companion for 32 years, Miss Polly Thomson.
Crew Amazed
The two were flying from Rome to Paris in a Douglas Skymaster during a tour of Europe to aid the cause of the blind when Dr Keller took over the pilot's controls for 20 minutes."She sat in the co-pilot's seat, with the pilot beside her, and I relayed to her his instructions," said Miss Thomson. "The 'plane crew were amazed at her sensitive touch on the controls. There was no shaking or vibration. She just sat there and flew the 'plane calmly and steadily."
Dr Keller's own comment was "It was wonderful to feel the delicate movement of the aircraft through the controls."
Near the end of the 1919 silent film "Deliverance" (archived here) there is a scene where Keller (played by herself) rides in a biplane (pictured below). The film's titles do not make any claims that she is flying the plane, and the footage, starting at 1 hour, 17 minutes, 47 seconds, shows her suiting up with a leather aviator cap (but no goggles) and climbing into the plane. She sits in the forward cockpit seat with her eyes closed and there is no indication that she has the controls. In a tandem biplane the pilot typically sits in the back. There are shots of the plane taking off, flying, and landing, but no suggestion that she was the pilot, only that she got to enjoy the thrill of flight. The end titles for this scene say:
"It is wonderful! As if the chains which bind us to earth snapped....and set us free!"
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from loc.gov/item/mp73011000.)
The Library of Congress has a database searchable by author. Helen Keller's name produces 152 results, including books, essays and correspondence.
This conspiracy has been debunked (archived here) by Snopes on Dec. 26, 2020, and in a July 26, 2024 article (archived here) focused on misunderstandings about deafblindness by the Office of Science and Society at McGill University.
