ANNE SULLIVAN – THE MIRACLE WORKER

Abstract

Based on the analyzed new sources, including speeches and greetings to various institutions, this study presents little-known facts from the life path of the unique teacher Anne Sullivan - from the poorhouse to the world fame, earned with the training of the great deafblind Helen Keller. The principles and stages in the so-called Sullivan's "Conversational approach", aimed at overcoming the formal structure of education, based on the real needs of the deafblind child, are systematized. Without overstating the verbal speech in her original concept, she succeeds to find the optimal balance between nonverbal and verbal communication. Ann Sullivan's views about general education and the school of the future and her attitude to the social problems are still relevant today.