To understand the perspective of the author, James W. Loewen, I suggest reading the Editorial Reviews of the book on Amazon and noting that customers who bought the book also bought history books by Howard Zinn and Oliver Stone.
The editorial mentions specifically the example of Helen Keller in detail, and associating that with Zinn and Stone would lead those prone to making uninformed snap judgements that the tome is pro-socialism. Is that the mistake you've made here?
If you want to actually understand his perspective, you're better off reading the book, instead. The book is about how various stories and individuals have been whitewashed by revisionist historians in order to promote "social studies" as "social engineering." The result is bland, uninteresting history full of dehumanized characters we cannot relate to, and therefore cannot learn from.
