"The change in gene mutation frequencies within a new, small, rapidly expanding population is called "random genetic drift," and it—not inbreeding or natural selection—is the major reason for the high incidence of specific recessive disorders in isolated human populations, including the Plain communities.

"Over the same period, genetic drift has also been at work within the U.S. general population. As a result, cystic fibrosis is a very common recessive disorder in the U.S. Caucasian population, but is absent in the Plain populations of Lancaster County. The carrier rate for this disorder is now 1 in 25 people, 4,000 per 100,000 in the general U.S. population." From the link

Interesting articles. Thanks.

When I was young and in the Amish church, I don't recall ever meeting any mentally damaged or undeveloped people. I do remember a midget; we kids were fascinated by her. She was actually shorter than I but I was 8 or 9 years old and she was in her 40s. She was in Oregon just a couple of years. She was from Ohio.

There was one girl, a girl I detested, who visited Oregon with her parents. I think they were from Michigan or Indiana. Her dad was a cousin of some kind of my father's and this little girl, a couple of years younger than I, was very unpleasant to be around.

I remember one day I was told to 'keep her company'; we went upstairs. The girl - I don't even remember her name - got into my brothers' things, rummaged through my closet and to top it off opened a sister's bottle of cologne and drank it. I was appalled, but being a polite numbskull in those days I only tentatively pleaded with her to leave things alone.

Too bad the cologne wasn't toxic.

I just remembered- the story was that the girl was the way she was because when her mother was pregnant with her she visited a zoo and watched the monkeys, forever making her a 'monkey girl'.

No one ever said that Amish are not superstitious!