Medford mail tribune., May 01, 1960, Image 51

ns
For
Hands and Feet,
She
Uses Courage
(Continued)
was made superintendent.
A shocking blow almost devastated
her shortly after she began teaching.
Her sister Clara who had been a
mother to her died of cancer. "It made
me question whether life was worth
while," she says.
But she was encouraged by the words
of her pastor: "When things get rough,
the Carlsens praise the Lord and work
a little harder." Anne did both and
found a purpose again in living,
o
Q EMBMiiaiNG the crises of her early
IX years, Anne Carlson observes: "The
spirit is wonderful thing. So resilient,
so hard to break. It makes us come
through so much pain and disappoint
ment." That spirit is what she tries to
impart to hei big family at the school.
"I suppose I was born with a sunny dis
position," she maintains, "or maybe
smiling is just a habit with me."
Today, at 44, Dr Carlsen is a poised,
neatly groomed executive who gets
around with remarkable dexterity. She
drives a car with an arm curt and other
gadgets specially made for her, and is
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active in a dozen civic, social, church,
and professional groups. Last February,
--he wasn't a bit fazed when Rotarians
sent her on a two-month trip to Aus
tralia, where she made talks before
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education and rehabilitation groups.
Still not too steady on her substitute
-(egs, Dr. Carlsen occasionally falls, re
cently broke a shoulder bone and ended
up in a hospital for five weeks. Acci-
o
dents like this (lon't disturb her. Once,
on herSvay to a party, she slipped on
the ice and cut her scalp; after a phy
sician stitched her up,' she went to the
party as if nothing had happened. 0
About her physical shortcomings, Dr.
Carlsen has a healthy philosophy.
"I've always thought of my disabil
ity," she says, "as one of the accidents
that happen in a certain percentage of
births. It just happened to me. I accept
it as I do the color of my eyes, and I
live with it. As I say to my youngsters,
the world's great achievements are not
physical but mental and spiritual."
The school Dr. Carlsen heads, rated
as one of the best of its kind in the
nation, is a modern, fully equipped,
half-million-dollar structure at James
town (pop. 15,000) in the heart of a
farm-trade community. Although oper
ated by the Lutheran Hospitals and
Homes Society, the school is open to
any child who is too seriously handi
capped to attend a public school. The
students come from 16 states and Can
ada. Most of the school's income comes
from public contributions.
The school's aim is to treat the "whole
child" mind, body, and soul. To Dr.
Anne, her students are "just kids," not
cases "That's the way I longed to be
regarded when I was their age." To her,
nothing is more gratifying than water
ing a youngster change from a with
drawn and resentful child to a mature
individual who can reach out to others
and know that life is still good. Dr.
Anne helps effect this transformation
by imparting her own self-confidence.
Take Jane, for example, a pretty,
golden-haired child. When she was
six, Jane would lie awake at night cry
ing because the braces on her withered
legs were so uncomfortable. But when
the night supervisor oiTered to unlock
the braces, Jane refused. "I must leaTn
to walk by myself!" she insisted. "Dr.
Anne says I can." Jane grew up at the
school. Today she is a sophomore at the
University of Illinois, planning a career
in mathematics.
Dr. Carlsen feels well rewarded for a
lifetime of untiring work not in the
rewards of national honors or interna
tional reputation. Her rewards are the
achievements of her graduates who, de
spite disappointments and heartbreaks
in the outside world, have constantly
pushed on and won places in society.
David Rife, for instance, is a research
physicist with the Federal government.
Irvin Nelson, paralyzed by polio, is an
accounting student at the University of
North Dakota. Most dramatic is Rich
ard Johnson of Crystal, N. D., who is
crippled by a spinal disease, has a mal
formed hand, cleft palate, poor vision,
and' a hearing impairment.
At 12, he was sent to a state hospital
for the mentally retarded. Through Dr.
Carlson's efforts, however, he was edu
cated and went on to own a typewriter
sales and repair business, drive an
automobile, and become active in com
munity affairs.
The triumphs of her students are far
more important to Dr. Carlsen than her
own. To her, they are her reason for
life and, perhaps, a reason for her own
handicaps. A- quotation from Tolstoy
kept under the glass top of her desk
sums up this dedication:
"Life is a place of service, and in
that service one has to suffer a great
deal that is hard to bear but more often
to experience a great deal of joy. But
that joy can be real only if people look
upon their life as a service, and have a
definite object in life outside of them
selves and their personal happiness."
(For a thumbnail sketch of the Illinois
man who succeeds Dr. Carlsen as
"Handicapped Amerinm o the Year,"
see page 20.)
Family Weekly, May I, I960 IJ
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12 Family Weekly, May I, I960
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