SATURDAY, JUNE 9
An Alcohol and Drug Intervention
with Old Order Amish Youth
James A. Cates, Chris Weber and Shirley Carey
The Elkhart-LaGrange settlement is the third largest Old Order grouping in the United States. As such, it also claims one of the largest adolescent and young adult groups of Amish, and a correspondingly high rate of alcohol and drug use.
Beginning in 2005, the Amish Youth Vision Project initiated a pilot project for those youth court-ordered into alcohol and drug education classes through the LaGrange Circuit Court. Youth from Amish families (although not yet baptized) were offered the option of a separate program, facilitated by a combination of non-Amish counselors and young adult Amish leaders from the community. Pre- and posttests of knowledge, attitudes, and awareness about alcohol and drugs demonstrate significant positive changes, as does anecdotal information from youth and parents alike.
This paper explains the process of developing the model, obtaining community tolerance and eventual approval, and the dynamic processes at work in the groups. The focus is on those aspects of group development and dynamics that are peculiar to the Old Order.
James A. Cates, Ph.D., of Cates & Associates, is Director of the Amish Youth Vision Project in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Chris Weber, M.A., L.M.H.C., and Shirley Carey, L.L.C. are associates with Solutions Counseling, LLC in Goshen, Indiana.
Facing Away:
Mental Health Treatment with the Old Order Amish
James A. Cates
Mental health treatment of the Old Order Amish is a relatively new phenomenon. Increasingly however, members of this sequestered Christian sect are either voluntarily seeking treatment or finding themselves ordered into treatment. Because they resist acculturation, many of the models of crosscultural treatment are less than fully applicable; and because their pursuit of counseling is relatively recent, there is little information available to guide the therapist working with these clients.
This article provides a practical approach to the more salient experiences and difficulties that arise in treatment of the Old Order Amish. The proposed paper emerges from an article which appeared in the American Journal of Psychotherapy in 2005 (59, 4, 371-383); as with all dynamic work, there are further modifications and elaborations since that publication.
James A. Cates, Ph.D., of Cates & Associates, is Director of the Amish Youth Vision Project in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Medical Research:
Finding Genes for Common Adult Diseases
Alan Shuldiner
Common adult onset diseases such as type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease have a strong genetic component. Unlike genetic diseases in children, which are due to mutations in single genes, common adult diseases are caused by complex interactions between multiple genes and environmental exposures. Therefore, genes for adult diseases are common in the population, but are very difficult to identify.
The Old Order Amish of Lancaster, Pa., are a genetically homogeneous closed founder population. These attributes make them an excellent source for gene-finding studies of common adult diseases. Since 1995 the Amish Research Clinic has recruited nearly 4,000 Amish volunteers into several studies of common adult diseases. This work is made possible through trust and partnership we have developed with the Amish community. While altruism is the dominant motivation for their participation, we also provide free medical care to our Amish volunteers through our research. Our work has led to the identification of a number of genes and chromosomal regions for common adult diseases that are not only relevant in the Amish, but to the general population.
Alan Shuldiner, M.D., is John Whitehurst Professor of Medicine and Director of the Program in Genetics and Genomic Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
The Amish and the Goat Path:
Meeting Future Needs Without Destroying Community
Jonathan Knauer
The paper will explore planning issues surrounding proposed improvements to the Route 23 corridor in eastern Lancaster County. While eastern Lancaster County municipalities are expected to receive moderate population growth in the coming decades, constructing a highway could fuel unanticipated growth and change the area in unforeseen ways.
The Amish community is being forced to choose between two equally unappealing prospects: come out strongly against the highway, violating their principles of maintaining distance between themselves and the outside world; or lose their land. While some Amish have transitioned into activities that require improved transportation, the vast majority remains in farming and the highway would be detrimental to their interests.
My thesis is that current planning theory models do not adequately address the situation of the Amish. Advocacy planning is a methodology that seeks to level the playing field between underrepresented populations and government agencies. The question I will address is how to advocate a position for a group that is unwilling to make its voice heard.
Jonathan Knauer, B.A., is a graduate student in Community and Regional Planning at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Bush Fever:
The Amish and the 2004 Presidential Election
Kyle C. Kopko
Although Amish and Old Order Mennonites typically shy away from political participation, the 2004 presidential election produced a sizeable increase in voter registration and turnout among these groups in Lancaster County (Pa.) that was not experienced elsewhere.
Supporters of the Republican Party and President Bush, including supporters within the Amish community, appealed to the conservative social values embraced by Amish and Old Order Mennonites to spur voter registration and turnout. This was possible due to the unique relationship between GOP officials and members of the Amish community. Although there was an increase in voter registration and turnout among these Old Order groups, their political impact was far less than party officials and political pundits had hoped. To arrive at our findings we relied on voter registration data from Lancaster County (Pa.) and Holmes County (Ohio), personal interviews, and primary sources including The Budget, The Diary, and Die Botschaft.
Kyle C. Kopko, B.A., is a Ph. D. student in political science at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
“So You Want to Help the Amish?”
Misconceptions of Government Agencies
Jeffrey Mizer
Employees of government agencies are required to make "all reasonable efforts" to reach minorities and under-represented groups. Traditional Anabaptists, such as Old Order Amish and Mennonites, can be considered one of those groups. Unfortunately, because of commonly held misconceptions, agency employees may alienate the very people they desire to help.
The goal of this presentation is to dispel several myths that appear to be accepted by many government employees about traditional Anabaptists: 1) they can be generalized into one social group; 2) they are so disconnected from modern society that they often "don't know any better"; 3) they have a very strict, hierarchical society which requires individuals to gain approval or permission from church leaders regarding the minutest of matters; and 4) they exploit their women and children.
This presentation is for individuals who desire to make a difference in Anabaptist communities.
Jeffrey Mizer, M.S., is Extension Educator—Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University Extension Office, Middleburg, Pennsylvania.
Charting the Growth of New Amish Settlements
Joseph Donnermeyer and Elizabeth Cooksey
Since 1990, the number of new Amish settlements nearly exceeds all previously founded settlements since their arrival in North America over 275 years ago. Although a small proportion already have failed, most display the essential components necessary for a viable and sustainable community.
The purpose of this paper is to document the recent, explosive growth of new Amish settlements in North America, where they are located, the places of origin of the first families to arrive, and the ways in which these new settlements begin to build a sense of community, both religiously and socially. Information for this research comes primarily from information in Die Botschaft, The Budget, and The Diary, as provided through the files of the Heritage Historical Library. Information on all settlements founded from January 1, 1990, through December 31, 2006, will be used for this analysis.
Joseph F. Donnermeyer, Ph.D., is Professor of Human and Community Resource Development in the Rural Sociology Program of The Ohio State University.
Elizabeth Cooksey, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Sociology at The Ohio State University.
New Comers: English Converts to the Amish
Stephen Scott
Many people assume that membership in an Amish congregation is limited to those raised in Amish families. While it is true that the vast majority of Old Order Amish were born into Amish families, membership is not necessarily a birthright matter. Over the years many people from diverse backgrounds have converted to the Amish. The number of those seeking to join the Amish has increased in the last several decades. Currently an estimated one hundred Old Order Amish members are converts to the faith.
What are people seeking who are drawn to the Amish? What do they actually find? Why do some turn away after a short time or even after becoming members? What are the keys to success for an Amish convert? These questions will be discussed and illustrated with case histories.
Stephen E. Scott, Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College.
Developing Safety Programs in Amish Communities
Wayne Dellinger
Two of the largest settlements of Amish in the United States reside in Ohio. Safety programs coordinated by Ohio State University Extension (OSUE) for Ohio’s Amish have been ongoing for over thirteen years. Programs have included well water quality, food preservation, fire prevention, and roadway safety.
Providing educational programming to communities with such a different lifestyle from the majority of the population sometimes proves challenging. Safety issues sometimes present additional challenges by conflicting with law enforcement issues.
This presentation will describe the development of safety programs in the OSUE Agricultural Safety Office for Ohio’s Amish. This will include the following:
· Developing a rapport with the Amish
· Developing/collaborating with an Amish Safety Committee
· Developing needs assessments
· Collaborations among the Amish, OSUE, and law enforcement
· Collaborating with Amish schools
· Non-intrusive program evaluations for Amish programs
Working with the Amish can be both challenging and rewarding. Both assisting in conflict resolution and improving safe practice are obtainable if approached with suitable methodology. Success has been measured with these programs in a variety of different ways.
Wayne A. Dellinger, M.S., is Program Coordinator, Agricultural Safety and Health, Ohio State University Extension, Department of Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University.
Farm and Home Safety Education
for Old Order Anabaptist Schoolchildren
Kay Moyer
Most of the more than 5,400 farms in Lancaster County are owned and operated by Old Order Anabaptist families. Farming, next to mining, is the most dangerous occupation. Anabaptist farming families are at increased risk of injury; they use large animals for travel and field work and older machinery with fewer safety devices. The major causes of injury/deaths include: contact with large animals, falls from equipment, falling down hay holes and being run over by equipment.
The Old Order Anabaptist School Program was developed to decrease injuries and deaths due to farming accidents. Teachers and parents call to request the program. Teaching tools include: enlarged posters, real farm pictures, puppet shows, and hands-on activities. Many of the teaching materials are adapted to be culturally sensitive. The teacher is provided with safety activity pages to use throughout the year. The children take home coloring books and other materials for them and their parents to read.
This previous school year we provided programs for 49 different classrooms. Pre- and post-testing demonstrated that 98.6% of the students increased their knowledge.
Kay Moyer, M.S., B.S.N., is a safety nurse educator with the Pennsylvania State University Lancaster Cooperative Extension, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Agricultural Injury Prevention
and Amish Culture in an “English” World
Dennis J. Murphy, Kay Moyer, S. M. Robertson
This paper will investigate the intersection of Amish culture and agricultural injury prevention. The recent prosecution of an Amish parent in a child’s farm-related death will be examined as will similar prosecutions in the “English” community. Some agricultural child safety advocates suggest that there be more use of legislation to protect children from agricultural hazards.
Due partly to a rash of farm-related injuries to Amish children, the Amish community in Lancaster County has become more active in agricultural safety and health efforts. Reactions to these contrasting approaches—legislation vs. education—are examined with an eye toward understanding how to effectively promote agricultural injury prevention within an Amish community which lives in, but separates itself from, “the world.”
Dennis J. Murphy, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Safety and Health in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University.
Kay Moyer, M.S., B.S.N., is a farm safety educator with The Pennsylvania State University Lancaster Cooperative Extension.
S.M. Robertson, B.A., is a research associate with the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University.
Plain Populations
and the Practice of Translational Medicine
Kevin A. Strauss and Erik G. Puffenberger
The translation of genetic information into patient care begins with a commitment to care for the patient. Frances Peabody, in a lecture to medical students in 1927, concluded, “One of the essential qualities of the clinician is interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.”
The Clinic for Special Children was established in 1989 as a nonprofit medical service for Amish and Mennonite children with genetic disorders. The clinic provides medical services for over 800 pediatric patients representing more than 80 genetic disorders. It serves children from the Plain communities by translating advances in basic research into timely diagnoses and accessible, comprehensive medical care. Through early diagnosis and a system of comprehensive care, problems like mental retardation, brain degeneration, lethal infection, and untimely death are prevented.
The close association between the clinical and research staff provides effective and economical medical care as well as opportunities to understand relationships among genes, environment, and disease. The identification of underlying molecular lesions alone rarely provides insight into disease complications and their appropriate treatment. Indeed, many facets of genetic disorders only become known through clinical problem solving. The clinic’s integrated, “small science” approach to genetic problem-solving yields large benefits to patients and their families. Work at the Clinic for Special Children demonstrates that the everyday practice of medicine has wide biological relevance, and constitutes the true frontier of translational genetics.
Kevin A. Strauss, M.D., is a pediatrician at the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.
Erik G. Puffenberger, Ph.D., is Laboratory Director at the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.
The Beachy Amish Mennonites:
A Reflection of Place and People
Cory A. Anderson
The Beachy Amish Mennonites began as an Amish faction that allowed cars, electricity, and Sunday school, and used shunning in moderation. This group has since grown to be one of the largest Amish Mennonite constituencies at just over 10,000 members.
Early Beachy congregations started within Old Order Amish regions; however, recent congregations are usually a product of another Beachy church. This trend is especially prevalent in the U.S. South, which is used as a case study for Beachy diffusion. Some congregations, especially those near Amish settlements, have moved far from Old Order practice while others retain conservative elements (e.g., using German in services, avoiding photographs, and wearing Amish garb). The autonomous fellowship structure among Beachy congregations is one of the greatest strengths, yet one of the greatest weaknesses. Congregations decide their standard, yet such variety in practice can cause constituency disunity.
Cory A. Anderson, B.S., is a writer/revisor at Christian Light Publications, Free Union, Virginia.
Beachy Amish Mennonites in Belize:
Mission Work in a World of Diversity
Carel Roessingh
This paper addresses the mission work of Beachy Amish Mennonites in Belize. According to Redekop (1989: 242), mission work is seen amongst Mennonites as “one of the highest callings of the Mennonite church”. Redekop’s notion is remarkable, since this claim does not hold equally for all Mennonite groups in Belize.
Members of the U.S. Beachy Amish Mennonite Church who are residing in Belize for a certain period, as well as some Belizeans who have joined the Beachy Church congregation, carry out mission work, whereas the other Belizean Mennonites mainly occupy themselves with the widely practiced relief and service and other outreach work.
The question is, therefore, how the mission work of the Beachy Amish Mennonites can be seen in relation to outreach work done by other Mennonite groups in Belize. This paper tries to get a clearer picture of the identities of these two groups and the way they cope with their ethnically and societally diverse context. Being confronted with poverty, drinking, television, dancing, and corruption seems to reinforce their belief in Jesus and their dedication to spread the Gospel message.
The paper is based on qualitative research consisting of in-depth interviews and participating observation.
Carel Roessingh, Ph.D., is a member of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Culture, Organization and Management, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The Conservative Amish Mennonite Conference:
Appropriating an Amish Heritage
Nathan E. Yoder
The Conservative Amish Mennonite Conference (CAMC) offers a case study in one group’s appropriation of its Amish heritage for negotiating a place in twentieth-century America. From its first assembly in 1910, the CAMC intentionally steered a course more progressive than that of the Old Orders, yet more traditionalist than that of the Amish Mennonites who would shortly merge with the Mennonite Church.
The paper will provide a narrative of the CAMC’s first five decades with an eye to how members of the conference made use of their Amish heritage as a reference point in forging their identity. This narrative will include attention to identity and cohesion, authority and leadership, hermeneutical process, relationships to the host culture, and accommodation to change. Of particular interest will be a comparison of the 1910s when “Amish” as a part of the formal name was affirmed and the 1950s when that part of the name was dropped.
Nathan E. Yoder, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Church History at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Aging the Amish Way: Lessons for Outsiders
Denise Boswell
While nearly every community in the United States will see greater numbers of older adults in the next 20 years, many may not readily or easily see the effect of this aging nor respond proactively to tap resources and meet the needs of their seniors. For the first time in American history, the “old old”—those over 85—are now the fastest growing segment of our population. This has resulted in research being conducted on issues related to long-term care and aging in place. Findings from these studies indicate that it is important to analyze other models and cultures to determine more positive and effective ways to address the aging of our population.
During Summer 2002, data was gathered through in-depth interviews with 15 Old Order Amish men and women in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Through transcription and analysis of these interviews, differences appeared between how we, the “English,” and the Old Order Amish look at growing old and at older members of society. This paper will present the findings of this qualitative research and suggest how we could benefit by integrating certain Amish ways into our planning and care for seniors, resulting in an improved quality of life for older adults in our communities.
Denise Boswell, Ph.D., is Chief, Planning, Budget, and Systems Support, Division of Aging and Adult Services, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Old Order Amish Widowers: Widower or Remarriage?
Pat McCallister and Carol Michael
Twenty interviews of Old Order Amish aged seventy and older were conducted in an Illinois settlement in Summer 2006. This presentation addresses various ways Amish widowers are “announced” and describes the cultural pressure they experience to remarry, since men are often dependent on Amish women playing traditional roles. The most difficult interviews to obtain were single Old Order Amish widowers because men usually remarry within months after their wife’s death.
Reflections will be gleaned from a lengthy interview with a widower discussing why he “went against the grain” and decided not to remarry and how he is coping as a widower in the Old Order Amish culture. Highlights will also be shared from interviews with widowers who remarried along with responses from their second wives. Their courtship, special adjustments with children and extended families, issues within the marriage, housing decisions, outside employment roles, marital roles, burial practices, and caregiver issues will be addressed in this presentation.
Pat McCallister, Ed.D., is Professor of Consumer Studies at Eastern Illinois University.
Carol Michael, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Dietetics Program at Miami University of Ohio.
Amish Funeral Customs in Lancaster County
William Puffenberger
This presentation provides an in-depth description of Amish views of death, dying, and grief with a particular focus on their funeral practices in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Drawing on insights from funeral directors who work directly with the Amish, the paper will highlight some of the simple rites and unique features of Amish cultural perspectives on death. The session will conclude with a brief look at the funerals related to the recent schoolhouse shootings in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania.
William V. Puffenberger, Ph.D., is Professor of Religion Emeritus, Elizabethtown College.
Imagining Forgiveness
in the Aftermath of Nickel Mines
David Weaver-Zercher
In the days following the Nickel Mines School shooting, numerous commentators—professionals and lay people alike—responded to the act of Amish forgiveness in op-ed pieces, letters to the editor, and Internet blogs and chat rooms. With a few prominent exceptions, these responses demonstrated high regard for the Amish response and for the virtue of forgiveness in general. A closer look, however, reveals a significant degree of ambiguity. Part of this ambiguity stemmed from a dearth of details about the Amish response; in other words, many commentators were relatively uninformed about what Amish people actually did—and what they meant—when they offered forgiveness in the shooting’s wake. In this sparse informational context, commentators frequently filled in the gaps with their own understandings and conceptions of forgiveness. These commentaries not only revealed the many ways forgiveness can be imagined; they also demonstrated the tendency to reduce the cultural distance between the Amish and their non-Amish neighbors.
David Weaver-Zercher, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of American Religious History, Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania.
Reporting Our Tragedy to the World
Carolyn Kitch
This research analyzes coverage of the Amish school shootings in 20 American newspapers—10 within 100 miles of the crime site, compared with the top-10 circulation U.S. newspapers—with attention to which publications claimed “insider” status in this story. Nearly all of them engaged in a reflexive debate about the role of journalism in this event, decrying the “media blitz” while jockeying for a favorable place within the criticism.
Lancaster, York, and Harrisburg newspapers were full of damning tales about scheming, rude, vain, clueless TV news crews and big city reporters, mixed in among anecdotes in which the local reporters were shown as protectors and even confidantes of the Amish “neighbors” who rallied around the victims. With this rhetorical turn, the story—suspended in narrative limbo by the lack of victims’ families to interview and uncertainty about the killer’s motives—gained closure, providing a lesson about a simple, caring, rural community who embodied the “best of America.” Thus the Amish themselves faded from the story, as did the specificity of their culture and the consequences of the crime.
Across journalism, reporters repeatedly defended their intensive coverage as a duty to explain the Amish “to the world,” yet in the end, readers learned little about them. Instead, the distinct culture of the Amish was symbolically appropriated as American (ideal) typicality.
Carolyn Kitch, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Journalism at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A Feminist Analysis of Gender and Representation
in the School Shooting
Karen Eppley
In the aftermath of the school shootings in Nickel Mines, countless photographic images of grieving Amish adults and children dominated the front pages of newspapers across the country. In this piece, select Associated Press images published in the days following the shootings are analyzed from the premise that pictures do not record reality, rather they produce it (Kress, 1996, p. 45). The photographs are read for possible meanings to be made around gender and the Amish-as-other by coupling Kress and van Leeuwan’s system of visual image critique (1996).
The work of Kress and van Leeuwan is applied to examine the visual communicative work of the photographs. How do visual elements such as background, contrast, shape, and vectors impact the meaning readers make from the photographs? Rey Chow describes automatons, in part, as characters who can be guaranteed to think, speak, and act exactly as the reader would expect. Automatons are subject to social exploitation and their aesthetic appeal increases relative to their awkwardness and helplessness. How might Chow’s work help (or not help) us read the texts? Do the visual elements in the photographs work together to represent of a type of postmodern automaton?
Karen Eppley, M.Ed., is a doctoral candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at The Pennsylvania State University.
Old Order Schools: Education for the 21st Century
Karen M. Johnson-Weiner
To keep their communities intact, the Old Order Amish must prepare their children to interact with the outside world. In reflecting and reinforcing the way each community interprets the nature of this interaction and what it means to be “in the world but not of it,” Old Order schools help to define what it means to be Old Order now and in the future. They demonstrate both the connectedness of Old Order communities and their diversity.
This presentation explores how private Old Order schools, while generally meeting the standards imposed by the state, realize the educational goals of the particular church-community rather than the goals of the dominant society. It suggests that, in the diverse choices they make about educating their children, Old Order communities reveal an ongoing negotiation with the dominant society to preserve the linguistic, cultural, and religious integrity of the group.
Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology, The State University of New York at Potsdam, Potsdam, New York.
The Plain People and Genetic Medicine:
What Can the Plain Communities Teach Us Now?
D. Holmes Morton
Genetic research with the Amish dates to the 1960s when the manuscript of John A. Hostetler’s book, Amish Society, was first read by Victor McKusick. The collaborative studies of Hostetler and McKusick became especially important in the remarkable career of Victor McKusick, author of the catalogue of human genetic disorders OMIM, Physician and Chief of Johns Hopkins, and Chairman of the Human Genome Project. His work became, in many respects, the foundation of modern genetics.
As Human Genetics emerged as a paradigm for scientific medicine, medical care in the United States, and Lancaster County, also underwent transformation. Local clinics and hospitals, often founded as non-profits with a humanitarian mission to provide health care, were absorbed into Scientific Medical Centers, which are corporate enterprises, influenced more by politics and principles of law and business than by humanitarian goals. In contrast, influenced by the needs and beliefs of the Plain Communities, the Clinic for Special Children has remained a small, not-for-profit local clinic, whose mission is humanitarian, and where the remarkable knowledge of modern genetics is routinely translated into better medical care.
Paul Starr describes the transformation in these words: “The emergence of corporate enterprise in health services is part of two broad currents in the political economy of contemporary societies. The older of these two movements is the steady expansion of the corporation into sectors of the economy traditionally occupied by self-employed small businessmen or family enterprises. In this respect, the growth of corporate medical care is similar to the growth of corporate agriculture.
The second and more recent movement is the transfer of public services to the administrative control or ownership of private corporations...” (The Social Transformation of American Medicine, Pg 445.)
Improvement in patient care begins with a commitment to care for the patient—as an individual, an individual who is not merely an example of this or that “mutation” but a person who has varied and complex medical problems and has asked for our help. Frances Peabody in an address to Harvard Medical Students in 1927 summarized this commitment: “One of the essential qualities of the Clinician is interest in humanity, for the secret of caring for the patient is in caring for the patient.”
Many failings of modern scientific medicine arise from the disconnection of medical research, medical knowledge, and patient care. A recent editorial in the Journal of Clinical Investigation indicates that research support in the past 20 years has overwhelmingly directed physician-scientists to the laboratory and away from patients - 97% of physician scientist who received the Howard Hughes Clinical Research Awards elected to do research that did not involve patients (Goldstein JL 1997). Less than 3% of money from the NIH and the Hughes Foundation support research of the sort that requires the doctor to shake the hands of those who have the disease to be studied.
We work within a community of plain people, who have a deep sense of responsibility to provide care for those who are disabled by age, by misfortune, by mental infirmity, and by complex, chronic illnesses that arise from genetic predispositions to disease. They not only accept this responsibility, but also accept individuals with such problems as important members of their families and communities. They consider the work to care for them important and often interesting. The people, for whom we work—ill children, their families, and the Plain Communities, have constantly influenced our work at Clinic for Special Children. Our meaningful work, and the science and the art that arises from that work, is considered a Gift from our patients to all of us.
The understanding, the acceptance, that many common illnesses arise from genetic predispositions and are nonetheless treatable, may finally be the most important contribution of the Plain People to modern medicine.
D. Holmes Morton, M.D., is Clinic Director, Clinic for Special Children, Strasburg, Pennsylvania.
