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Article: Understanding congenital disorders.
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- May 1, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Jim Abbott is an ace pitcher for the California Angels. Christopher Burke is an actor who currently stars on the television show Life Goes On. Woody Guthrie is an American folk legend--he wrote the song "This Land Is Your Land" and many others. What do these individuals have in common? For one thing, remarkable accomplishments. For another, congenital anomalies, commonly called birth defects.
Congenital comes from the Latin word congenitus, "born together with." An anomaly is a departure from the usual order. The term birth defect has a negative sound to it. Today, people are more sensitive to the power of language in shaping attitudes. That's why less ...