New York Times Examines Special Health Needs of Amish

In a front-page story, the New York Times on June 20 examines an effort by the Amish and Mennonite communities in northeast Ohio to build a $1.8 million center to "deal with a myriad of hereditary disorders" that have affected Amish children for years. While the Amish make up only 12% of the local population, they account for almost 50% of the most severe cases of mental and physical retardation among children. Some children have "obscure genetic and biochemical disorders" in part because of the "founder effect," in which genetic problems are magnified in an insular population descended from a small group of ancestors. Health care for Amish children is particularly lacking because the Amish do not believe in medical insurance or government aid, relying instead on "quiet personal charity," the Times reports. But two years ago, the community's 72 bishops approved an "appeal to modern science" and encouraged their followers to raise $700,000 for the Deutsch Center for Special Needs Children. The center is modeled after the Amish Clinic for Special Children in Lancaster County, Pa., which has developed "promising diagnostic and treatment innovations" since it opened in 1989. The techniques employed emphasize family education of genetic diseases, infant screening and "high alert" to routine sicknesses (Clines, New York Times, 6/20).