A short set of stairs led to the check-in desk at the Atlantic Sands. It was the welcome mat for the 80 participants who attended the Little People's Regional Conference in Rehoboth Beach this weekend.

According to Rick Spiegel, a conferencee attendee, the average height of little persons attending the conference was 2 feet 5 inches tall to 4 feet 10 inches, and ranged between the ages 7 months to 70. Spiegel said there were lots of teens.

Little people, or people of short stature, are terms used to describe various types of dwarfisms. The word "midget" is considered offensive by most. That term dates to the mid-1800s when short-statured persons were used for public display. However, according to liturature by Little People of America, persons of short stature would rather be referred to by their name.

This was the first time the association held its conference in Rehoboth. The association sponsors various regional and nation conferences every year for little people and their families.

The association is a nonprofit organization that assists dwarfs with their physical and developmental concerns. It provides medical, educational, environmental and support resources.

Barbara Brullo, spokesperson for the association, said the conference provides peer support and personal examples for other persons of short stature. The younger generation "sees we have a future."

She said, for instance, when average-size parents have children with short stature, they may freak out. In the media "they see LPs in negative roles. They don't see the attorneys, the accountants, the businessmen ... we're just as diverse," she said.

According to Brullo, there are more than 200 diagnosed types of dwarfism, but the most common is achondroplasia -- a genetic condition resulting in disproportionately short arms and legs in comparison to an average sized person. The average height of adults with achondroplasia is about 4 feet tall. Some people with dwarfism have orthopedic problems, such as spinal stenosis, where the opening of the spine is too small for the spinal cord causing pain and numbness. This is one condition that may be corrected surgically.

Some little people have conditions where they are better abled by the use of a wheelchair. Colleen Gioffreda, a conference coordinator said the wheelchair accessibility of the Atlantic Sands was a factor in choosing that particular hotel over others in the area.

According to Brullo, Gioffreda and Spiegel, the majority of little people are in reasonably good health, of normal intelligence, and live normal life spans, just ... shorter in height.

"I can't reach things that you can, big deal," said Spiegel.

"There are things that society takes for granted like accessing gas pumps, and ATMs," Spiegel added. Legislatively, according to Brullo, those are things they'd like to see changed.

Besides being professionals, people of short stature are also parents. Gioffreda and her husband are a short-statured couple. They have two young red-headed and look forward to having more.

According to Gioffreda, there's a 25 percent chance the child will be average sized, a 50 percent chance of a child with dwarfism, and a 25 percent chance of a child with double-dominant syndrome, which ends in death at birth or soon after for the infant. Both Giofreda's children are little people.

The conference this year had even greater personal rewards for Brullo. She and Spiegel, who met at a little people's conference in Pittsburgh in April, became engaged on Friday Oct. 4.

Little People of America can be reached at 888-LPA-2001 or at www.lpaonline.org.

Originally published Wednesday, October 9, 2002