Bridgman, Laura Dewey

Said to be the first deaf-blind person in America, and probably the world, to be successfully educated (at the Perkins School for the Blind, by Samuel Gridley Howe); afterward, she lived at the School. Became deaf and blind at age 2 from fever; she had begun to speak by that time, but lost the skill and never regained it. Biography books about her include The Education of Laura Bridgman: First deaf and Blind Person to Learn Language (2001) and The Imprisoned Guest: Samuel Howe and Laura Bridgman, the Original Deaf-Blind Girl (also 2001).