ANNE CARLSEN: a legacy of independence

WORDS : TAMIE ZACCHEA

PHOTOGRAPHY : PROVIDED BY ANNE CARLSEN

Anne Carlsen was born over 100 years ago with signi cant physical limitations. A century ago, individuals with these challenges would not be able to participate in most activities in the community and were not able to achieve independence. But Anne’s parents were her greatest advocates, encouraging and empowering her. Anne went on to spend her entire life working to help children and adults achieve independence, as her parents had done for her.

Today, Anne’s legacy lives on at Anne Carlsen. Anne Carlsen has grown from the original location in Jamestown founded 80 years ago, to nine locations throughout North Dakota serving thousands of families. Their mission is simple: provide support and care from birth through adulthood to those who need it to achieve independence and quality of life. Delivering on that mission to hundreds of families here in Fargo is an extensive team of skilled professionals, recently consolidated into one convenient location in south-central Fargo.

Available services begin at birth with early intervention (EI). Services for early intervention are done with the family during their daily activities. EI is designed to meet the developmental needs of each child and the needs of the family related to enhancing their child’s development. Some children qualify for services based on a diagnosis the child received at birth while other children can experience developmental delays with no known cause. Regardless of the reason for the delay, EI aims to maximize the potential of each child. Early interventionists work as a team and include a robust variety of professionals such as early childhood special educators, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and social workers. By the time a child turns three, the early intervention team has helped the family connect with any additional resources and services the child may need.

In addition to comprehensive early intervention services, Anne Carlsen o ers a vast array of services for families in need. They include, but are not limited to, speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. In addition to these traditional pediatric outpatient services, Anne Carlsen’s Fargo therapy clinic o ers specialized approaches like orofacial myology, which focuses on improving the strength and coordination of the mouth to improve feeding and speech skills. Anne Carlsen also o ers applied behavior analysis (ABA), a specialized therapy for children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

Busy parents and patients will appreciate the consolidation of services under one roof. Care and services are coordinated between specialties, eliminating the need to travel to di erent locations on di erent days. Parents, patients and professionals are a team at Anne Carlsen. The goal is to address all the child’s needs, empower and partner with parents to be able to support their child’s needs themselves, and for the child to achieve independence and quality of life through treatment and support.

Services at Anne Carlsen are available to children and adults experiencing temporary setbacks as well. In situations where a person was extremely ill or injured, for instance, temporary help regaining full speech or motor function may be needed. Anne Carlsen is dedicated to nurturing abilities and changing lives for the better, whether the need is long term or short term.

Anne Carlsen operates as a non-pro t organization and will happily work with you to explore funding options available to you. Developmental screenings are typically free. They welcome your inquiry by phone and would be happy to provide more information for your unique situation. Anne

4152 30th Ave S, Fargo

701-364-2663 | annecarlsen.org