Fuller was born in Weston, Massachusetts to Harvey and Celynda (Fiske) Fuller, and was educated at West Newton English and Classical School in Massachusetts.

In 1871, the school staff was trained in the skill of teaching deaf children how to speak by Alexander Graham Bell.

Sarah became an advocate of this practice, as well as the promotion of education for deaf children starting at the earliest age possible.

In 1890, Fuller applied the methods she learned and developed from Bell in giving the first speech lessons to Helen Keller.

Sarah died in Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts, and is buried in Saint Mary's Cemetery.