Welcome to Kenmare

Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 39--9/26/2007)

Ben Anderson book released last month

Book signing this week in Kenmare

By Caroline Downs

Kenmare native Ben D. Anderson has experienced so much more in his life than anyone believed possible for a man diagnosed with cerebral palsy that he wrote a book about it.

"I wanted to have a book to tell people about my life and my own experience so that people can learn and use it," he wrote in an email interview with The Kenmare News. "The book is designed to help parents, students and professionals around the whole subject of disabilities."

Anderson’s book, IQ of 63-So What! Going Beyond Everybody Else’s Expectations, was released August 15th in a paperback version. Anderson’s non-profit organization Break Through, Inc. published the book, with production by Sentinel Printing, St. Cloud, MN. Anderson included humor and sensitivity to share his story from childhood through his recent marriage to his wife Dee and their continued work to raise awareness for disability issues.

Born in 1953 to Russell and Marlys Anderson of Kenmare, Anderson was sent to the Anna Carlson School in Jamestown when he was four years old. He returned to Kenmare in 1965, at the age of 12, and attended classes at Kenmare Public School before graduating from Minot High School in 1972.

Anderson is known for his stubborn refusal of stereotypes and limitations, beginning at the age of four when his grandfather offered a bargain: a pedal-powered John Deere tractor in exchange for Anderson learning to walk.

Anderson got that tractor and continues to enjoy his John Deere collection.

As an adult, despite the assessment of a 63 IQ, the classification of "retarded" and a certificate from high school instead of a diploma, he fought his way into college classes at Lake Region Junior College in Devils Lake and Golden Valley Lutheran College in Golden Valley, MN.

He founded Break Through, Inc. in 1978 from his home in Amery, WI, to expand awareness of and sensitivity toward persons with disabilities. The Christian-based organization provides a means to train leaders in churches, civic groups, schools, universities, business and professional organizations across the country to work with people with disabilities in an open and receptive manner.

Launching Break Through was one of Anderson’s three primary goals. He also wanted to earn his college degree, which he accomplished in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in vocational rehabilitation from the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Menomonie, WI. In 2006, Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin further honored Anderson’s work and determination by appointing him to the State Rehabilitation Council.

Anderson’s third goal has been realized with the publication of IQ of 63-So What! Despite a schedule that keeps him on the road with speaking engagements and training sessions, Anderson found time to dictate the chapters of his story to Dee, who typed his words. A handful of friends read and reviewed the manuscript before Anderson began the publication process.

He has appreciated the response to his story. "They have enjoyed the context and humor," he wrote. "I think people like it because it is written, number one, by a person with a disability; number two, in a language that people understand; and number three, at a time when books and information about people with disabilities are especially popular."

The book’s release has filled Anderson’s calendar with even more events. He and his wife spent three days in early September promoting the book at the Abilities Expo in Minneapolis. He plans to lecture and hold a book signing in Grand Forks on September 30th, and he is already booked for speeches and signings at the TASH conference, an international association for persons with disabilities, their families and their advocates, in Seattle, December 5-8, 2007.

However, Anderson will stop in Kenmare for a short visit with family and friends later this week. He will also sell and sign copies of his book at Gartner’s Jack and Jill on Friday, September 28th, between 10 am and 1 pm. "My hope is that people would enjoy the book and find it to be a helpful tool to deal with people with disabilities," he wrote.

His new role as author, as well as speaker and disabilities advocate, has prompted requests for more writing, including a fiction book. "I am thinking about it," he wrote, "but I am going to be quite busy with promoting my book and speaking around the country in 1008-09. I have other projects in the works that have to do directly with my Break Through organization. It seems we always have projects on the burner!"

Anderson invites his friends in the Kenmare area, as well as people who are interested in disability stories and issues, to stop by Gartner’s Jack & Jill on Friday. More information about Break Through, Inc. and ordering additional copies of IQ of 63-So What! can be found on his website at www.bendanderson.com.