Helen Keller became blind and deaf when she was about 19 months old, after a severe illness with a high fever in early 1882.

Quick Scoop: What happened and when?

Most historians and biographers agree on the timeline:

  • Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in West Tuscumbia, Alabama.
  • Around February 1882, at about 19 months old, she developed a sudden “brain fever” with a very high temperature.
  • She survived the illness, but it left her permanently blind and deaf from that time onward.

So when people ask “when did Helen Keller go blind and deaf?” , the answer is:
➡️ She lost her sight and hearing at about 19 months old, after a febrile illness in 1882.

What caused her blindness and deafness?

Doctors of her time called it “brain fever,” which was a vague term.

Modern medical historians suggest likely causes such as:

  • Scarlet fever
  • Meningitis (especially bacterial meningitis)
  • Possibly another encephalitic or infectious disease in infancy

A detailed medical analysis in a clinical journal argues that bacterial meningitis is the most probable cause, based on her described symptoms and outcome.

Mini timeline for context

  • 1880 – Helen Keller is born in Alabama.
  • 1882 – At about 19 months, she becomes ill, then emerges from the illness blind and deaf.
  • 1887 – Anne Sullivan arrives to teach her, beginning the famous “water pump” breakthrough in language.

Forum-style takeaway

In simple terms: Helen Keller didn’t gradually go blind and deaf; it happened very early in life, at around a year and a half old, after a short but intense illness with high fever.

TL;DR: Helen Keller went blind and deaf at about 19 months old, in 1882, when a severe childhood illness with high fever left her without sight or hearing.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.