Deafblind from a young age, Stringer was brought to the Perkins Institution for the Blind through the fundraising of Helen Keller.

[4] Stringer's plight came to the attention of ten-year-old Helen Keller, who was determined to bring Tommy to the Perkins Institution for the Blind.

[7][8] He learned alongside his classmates with the assistance of his teacher and interpreter, Helen S. Conley;[9] Stringer graduated from the grammar school in 1903.

[1] At the house and farm where he spent his summers, he constructed a railing on a set of stairs and secured a gas pipe in the barn to ensure the cats who lived there would be safe.

[1] Stringer traveled through the northeast United States, visiting the Philadelphia Mint and being received by President William McKinley in the White House.

[7][4] The fund that Anagnos set up for Stringer provided a $1,000 per year stipend for his income, as well as a workbench and a tandem bicycle he could ride with a seeing companion.