Maybe you've heard of Ludvig van Beethoven. He was a German composer and pianist. He started going deaf at the age of 28 and by the time he was 49, he could no longer hear. Even though he continued to get worse, he kept composing music. Beethoven died in 1827 when he was 57 years old. He is now buried in Central Friedhof, Vienna. You've probably heard the song Ode to Joy, right? Beethoven wrote that.

  Helen Keller was only 8 weeks old when she became deaf and blind at the same time. I have heard that she became deaf and blind when her mom was giving birth to Helen. Her mom and dad heard about someone in Philadelphia who could work with Helen, so they asked her to come. Then when Anne Sullivan got there, Helen learned to communicate. After a while Helen could learn and communicate well. She grew up, went to college and became an advocate for deaf people.