User:Alexislynn(BYU)/sandbox

Aslaug Haviland, known as "Utah's Helen Keller" was a deaf and blind Norwegian woman who came to the United States at the age of 16 to attend the Perkins Institute in Boston. She became a nationally renowned motivational speaker.

Aslaug Haviland was born in Bergen, Norway. At age 12 she contracted scarlet fever, and as a result lost both her hearing and vision.

Despite her double handicap, Haviland strove for independence and had a strong desire to learn new things. In 1977 she was given a scholarship to attend a nine-week ceramics class at the Salt Lake Art Center school. The class was designed specifically for the blind, and Haviland was named one of the "star pupils".

Haviland moved to Murray, Utah, and over time became known as "Utah's Helen Keller". Haviland was a popular speaker in Utah and the west coast, giving both motivational speeches and training on handicaps and rehabilitation. Haviland spoke to the general public at open meetings, but also to professional and government organizations, including both the Governor's Advisory Council for the Visually Handicapped and the Coordinating Council of Organizations and Agencies Serving the Blind at their 1974 conference at Brigham Young University. Haviland was also heavily involved in planning and implementing job training programs for the deaf and blind.

Haviland had one son, George. George would go on to graduate from the University of Utah. He worked as an admissions counselor at BYU.

In 1964, Haviland was made an American citizen in 1964. Though Federal Judge A. Sherman Christensen offered to waive the repetition of the oath of citizenship, Haviland requested to be able to participate in the ceremony. Senator Wallace F. Bennett reported that it was "one of 1964's most unusual naturalization cases". An arrangement was made by which as the judge read the oath, a friend of Havilands translated it into sign language and tapped it out into Haviland's palm.