Q: Are dwarfs able to participate in athletic activities?

A: Yes, within the limits of their individual medical diagnoses. For instance, swimming and bicycling are often recommended for people with skeletal dysplasias, since those activities do not put any pressure on the spine. Long-distance running or even extensive walking can be harmful because of the constant pounding, although, as a rule, healthy dwarf children without any unusual orthopedic problems should be allowed to engage in normal running-around.

Q: I've heard that car airbags can be dangerous to people of short stature. Should I have the airbag in my car disconnected?

A: You certainly may want to consider taking such a step. You can find out more at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's airbag-information site.

Q: Do LPs find their portrayal in movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs offensive?

A: No doubt some do. Many dwarfs, however, are proud of the role of dwarfs in history and in legend, going back as far as the art of ancient Egypt and Greece. What's important is that the average-size majority recognizes that LPs are fully capable people entitled to respect and equality.

Q: Can average-size people become the parents of dwarf children?

A: Yes. In fact, that's by far the most common situation. LPA is deeply concerned that as it becomes increasingly common to diagnose genetic conditions in utero, including dwarfism, prospective parents will find it difficult to obtain the data they need to make an informed decision as to whether to continue with the pregnancy. Genetic testing carries with it frightening implications for a whole range of issues, including a person's right to obtain medical and other forms of insurance. LPA believes strongly that prospective parents who become familiar with the full, productive lives led by little people will not likely choose termination.

Q: Can short-statured couples become the parents of average-size children?

A: Yes. The odds vary with diagnosis, but a person with achondroplasia has one dwarfism gene and one "average-size" gene. If both parents have achondroplasia, there is a 25 percent chance their child will inherit the non-dwarfism gene from each parent and thus be average-size. There's a 50 percent chance the child will inherit one dwarfism gene and one non-dwarfism gene and thus have achondroplasia, just like her or his parents. And there is a 25 percent chance the child will inherit both dwarfism genes, a condition known a double-dominant syndrome, and which invariably ends in death at birth or shortly thereafter.

Q: Has the gene for achondroplasia been discovered?

The gene for achondroplasia was located and identified for the first time in 1994 by a team of scientists at the University of California in Irvine. The lead scientist, the late John Wasmuth, urged that in-utero screening for achondroplasia be prohibited except to detect double-dominant syndrome among achondroplastic couples.