Meet Letisha Wexstten: Artist, UMSL student and advocate for others

UMSL Daily

Being born without arms hasn’t kept graphic design major Letisha Wexstten from leading an independent life filled with creativity, laughter and accomplishment. (Photo by August Jennewein)
As the oldest of five siblings, Letisha Wexstten remembers helping out around the house quite a bit growing up.
“Lots of diaper changes and bottle feedings,” she says with a grin.
Because she was born without arms, that might seem surprising. But Wexstten, who is now a student at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, made it work.
“When I was a baby, my parents were very supportive of me being independent, and that really kickstarted my personality of being OK with not having arms, accepting myself for who I am and accepting others for who they are,” she says. “There were no support groups for amputee babies, and so it was kind of trial and error.”
One idea involved a jar of beans.
“My mom – a genius – would sit me in the kitchen, and I would dump the beans out of the jar and then pick them up individually with my toes and put them back in the jar to hear the clinking sound,” Wexstten says. “That really helped with dexterity in my toes.”
Before long she was getting dressed by herself. Learning to complete such tasks – and being pushed to do so as a young child – was often difficult, but gaining those skills early on made a big difference.
“I figured it out,” Wexstten recalls. “And that’s just how my life has been ever since then. I drive a car, I paint and I’m an artist. I use a normal computer setup – I don’t have any extra adaptations or voice-activated stuff. It’s almost faster for me to use my feet, because my feet are my hands.”
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