Family Weekly
May I, mo
For
Hands and Feet,
She
Uses Courage
By THEODORE IRWIN
Recently A 17-year-old boy, severely afflicted
with cerebral palsy, unburdened his problems
to his school superintendent, Dr. Anne Carlsen.
He dreaded a painful operation recommended by
a specialist to relieve the tightness of his muscles.
After ten minutes, the enveloping warmth and
courage of the bright-eyed, sandy-haired woman
proved irresistible.
"All right, I'll go ahead with the surgery," he
said with a grin. Then, as he turned to go, he
remarked, "You know, Dr. Anne, whenever I leave
your office, I always feel bigger and stronger."
He barely glanced at Dr. Carlsen ' arms. They
are mere stumps above the elbows. Both her legs
are artificial.
Dr. Anne Carlsen is an amazing five-foot-Ull
bundle of spirit and determination. Her life is built
around the conviction that a child who is injured
at birth, contracts a disabling disease, or has a
crippling accident, need not forfeit the right to
happiness. That conviction comes from experience.
Both without forearms and legs, she has learned to
lead a full and rewarding life as head of the
Crippled Children's School at Jamestown, N. D.
Her own right to happiness comes chiefly from
the 79 students at the school. "I guess," she admits,
"they are a fair substitute for a family of my own."
Some of her "family" can't talk or are almost
unintelligible. Some can't chew or swallow their
food properly. Many move about in wheel chairs.
There are children with uncoordinated movements
who can't write and have to point to letters on a
spelling board. But for all there is encouragement.
Last May, in recognition of Dr. Carlsen's triumph
over her own disability, as well as her achieve
ments with crippled youth, she was awarded the
President's Trophy as "The Handicapped Ameri
can of the Year."
Such honors climax a long, valiant struggle for
Anne Carlsen, a struggle filled with painful ordeals
and personal tragedy. She was born in Grantsburg,
Wis., with both arms ending above the elbow, her
right leg a dangling end, and her left leg deformed
in a club foot.
The family physician prophesied, "She -may be
come an intellectual prodigy. When nature is short
in some ways, it often compensates in othei-s."
There were several sieges in hospitals. First, the
dangling end of one leg was removed. When
she was nine, contractures of her knee were
straightened out. At 12, Anne was fitted with arti
ficial arms, found them heavy and cumbersome,
discarded them, and has since relied on her arm
stumps to "do everything." At 15, her remaining
leg was amputated, so she uses artificial limbs.
Despite this, Anne was a high-spirited child.
Propelling herself over the ground, she joined the
other children's games. In baseball, there were
special rules for her; the bases were shortened and
she used a coaster wagon.
She and hex four brothers were raised by her
father and her older sister Clara. (Their moth
er died when Anne was four.) "It was my family's
love that kept me going," Dr. Carlsen says. "Never
once did I feel a hint that they were disappointed
in me or wished I were different.
"I had one fear," she adds. "I worried that I
would not be able to make myself useful. I fought
against the need to depend on someone else. In our
family, being on your own is taken for granted."
She will never forget what her father, a Danish
born florist, once said to her:
"Anne, two arms and two legs missing are not
as important as having one good Head. The essen
tial thing is to educate yourself."
Vice President Richard M. Nixon awards President's
Trophy to Dr. Carlsen, thus designating her Handi
capped Person of the Year. The ceremony took place
in Labor Department auditorium in Washington, D. C.
But in those days public schools were not pre
pared to educate crippled children. The resolute
Carlsens had to persuade a state psychologist to
test the eight-year-old girl and pronounce her
"educable." On his recommendation, she was ad
mitted to public school. The' bright- youngster
taught herself to maneuver a pen and raced
through two grades a year. She was ready for high
school at 12. That was the year she was orphaned
by the death of her father.
To spunky Anne Carlsen, it was another hard
knock to overcome, but she finished high school
and went on to the University of Minnesota where
she made three honor societies.
Anne had always felt a strong desire to teach
especially other crippled children. She never felt
her lack of limbs would be a hindrance. But in her
senior year at college, the head of the counseling
bureau told her that teaching was "out of the ques
tion." With so many able-bodied toachers available,
Anne just wouldn't have a chance.
.Bitterly frustrated, she sought other work but
waa continually rejected on various pretexts. For
two years, she remained unemployed. "I felt that
if I couldn't jet the right kind of work," she recalls,
"there was no point In my existence." 0
Then, unexpectedly, she heard of an opening for
a teacher at the Crippled Children's School. After
an intensive Interview, the job was hers at (25 a
month and room and board. When she first saw the
school, she said to herself: "This is home this is
where I belong." o
She was the entire high-school faculty, teaching
everything from Diglish to history and biology.
Later, she took time out to get her master's degree
at Colorado State College of Education and her
doctorate at the University of Minnesota. In time,
Dr. Carlsen was made principal and, 40 years ago,
(Conlinutd on page 12)
Family Weekly, May I, 1060 Q '
o