What is this disease? I need help, my character suffers from it....?

It affects either your knees, hips or back, I'm not sure which, maybe even all three. It leaves you in a lot of pain, and causes difficulty when walking. You have to use crutches, but not a wheelchair, though it can eventually cause you to need one. It's not an injury, it's a disease of some sort. Maybe genetic, I don't know, but if it's genetic, it can definitely skip generations, and can affect one person, but not their sibling.

It can affect children and teenagers as well as adults.

I was thinking arthritis, but I'm not completely sure. Any other ideas? And could you please give me some information about these diseases? Thanks. XD

edited 22nd May '11 7:41:06 AM by MumbleMissMumble

Osteoporosis?

Wow, that was fast. XD

I'm googling osteoporosis now, I might use that. =D

If that doesn't work this might help

Just call it's Cripple's Syndrome and be done with it

I'm not being rude, but why would you make a character like this? They won't be able to do anything, and your limiting yourself unnessecarily. Your story will be very limited, and quite boring. Might I suggest creating a character like my Kevin, who is able to do almost anything, and so creates a better story.

Again, not being rude, just an idea.

Nick, I know for a fact that you stole the idea of Kevin from my Naruto fanfiction. So don't even start with that.

It's stupid to think a character has to be all-powerful to be interesting.

Anyway, if you don't want to use an existing syndrome, there are new syndromes being discovered all the time. You could give him a syndrome that's only ever been seen in his family.

Skipping generations could mean either X-linked (boys have it, all related through female lines, and girls unaffected or much less affected), incomplete penetrance (having the gene gives you a blah percent chance of the syndrome, but other unknown factors affect whether it shows up) or recessive (in which case you need to explain how they happened to find other carriers - inbreeding would be the easiest explanation).

edited 24th May '11 3:33:41 PM by Ettina

No. . I...am not sure if you're joking or not. I hope you are.

@OP: Arthritis could cause these symptoms. There are some genetic conditions that can cause early onset arthritis in many joints. Alternatively, mis-formed joints can become arthritic early in life, or use during life can cause arthritis.

Please be careful when writing characters with disabilities, especially if you don't know a huge amount about the condition. Even the most well-meaning person can slip up, leading to a lot of Unfortunate Implications. But if you're writing a well-crafted story with a decent portrayal of people with disabilities then I applaud you and wish you luck. There is very little representation of these issues in fiction which isn't kind of problematic.

edited 24th May '11 3:33:05 PM by robintherose

I'm going to just toss in "Diverticulitis" and leave it at that.

I never read any Naruto fanfic, so I didn't steal your idea, wtf.

I never said a character has to be all-powerful to be interesting, my dear. Hmmm, how to explain this... Imagine a boat, and imagine a sea. The sea is the story, and the boat is the vessel sailing through the world of your words and imagination. The boat is the character. If your boat is broken and cracked and sinking, you will not longer have a story. If it is strong and sturdy and able to do anything, your story will be good.

Did I explain it well? Am I still stupid?

Also, I'm not joking, I am completely serious.

-Nick

Nick, I had a slash fanfic involving Choji/Gamakichi and the Sensei that married them was NOT ONLY named "Kevin-sama," but also fit the EXACT criteria you're talking about. And you even stole that water-related analogy! Kevin-sama uses it in talking about the couple's life, and how they won't have to forge across the "sea of troubles." Seriously, you're not even ATTEMPTING to hide the plagiarism!

Proof or gtfo.

Everyone here knows it, Nick. Kevin-sama is a well known sockpuppet of mine, along with Mousathe14 and Fast Eddie. You're not fooling anyone.

@Nick: OK, then you are approaching this in an incredibly ableist manner. In case it isn't obvious, comparing a person or character with a disability to an object that is "cracked and broken" is incredibly offensive. As is implying that someone with a disability couldn't be a protagonist in an interesting story. Disability is not a bar to doing interesting things (or having interesting things happen to you) - not in real life or fiction.

Oh, wait... Maybe that was my actual problem with what he said.

Cakman, I don't even understand you any more.

@Other person, I forget your name-I'm sorry about being rude, I really am, but you can't deny that disabled people aren't able to do everything normal people can. Maybe I phrased it badly, I'm sorry, but I just feel they can't do interesting things, and thus make boring protagonists. I could be wrong, maybe the OP can do a good job writing their story. I just don't think so. But I'm really, truly sorry for being offensive.

edited 24th May '11 4:09:42 PM by NickDaManWithDaCan

People can do plot-important things that aren't physical, though. Not everything requires strength.

Super Wheelchair, Artificial Limbs, Genius Cripple, Handicapped Badass, and all other sorts of Disability Superpower.

I'm going to believe that you didn't mean to be offensive. But lack of intent doesn't mean lack of effect - you clearly don't know much about disability so please try to learn a bit more before making such sweeping statements. (Also "normal" people can have disabilities. The super PC term is "temporarily able bodied", but avoiding the Unfortunate Implications of normal versus...not would be a good start).

Loni is totally correct that characters can drive plot without physical strength. That's what most characters do most of the time, I think.

Also, there are some genuinely interesting characters in non-boring stories that also happen to have disabilities. The first example that springs to mind is Rabo Karabekian in "Bluebeard" by Kurt Vonnegut (because it's what I'm reading right now).

Personally, I'd rather not see that again. It kind of weirds me out that this is the main way people with disabilities are portrayed in fiction. It can be done well - I'd just be more interested in a story with a disabled protagonist where they didn't get a "conciliation prize" in the form of superpowers.

edited 24th May '11 4:25:58 PM by robintherose

I have an idea, try exposing yourself to fiction other than shonen fighting anime and video games. Not all protagonists have to be physically flawless gods of ass-kicking you know.

Also, drop the faux-polite business, it's incredibly easy to see through and doesn't do anything to cover your bigotry.

sexism

The male privilege is strong in this one.

Nick Da Man, why do you hate women so much?

edited 24th May '11 4:43:59 PM by WoolieWool

Oh My. Perhaps I should stop trying to educate the trolls...

I think Oracle is a pretty cool gal, she hacks teh computers and doesnt afraid of anything

Would bone cancer be acceptable?

More info on lower back pain

OP: I suggest looking up degenerative disorders on Wikipedia and carefully looking over each one until you find one that is suitable. Read everything, follow some of the links, and use Google for good measure. Good luck!

And how does this have any relevance to whether they can be interesting characters? Not every character can do everything. If you have a superhero who can't fly, for example, no one says them being unable to fly makes them uninteresting.

And there are plenty of interesting plots you can only do with a disabled character (or a Fantastic Racism-style disability analogue). Like them being offered a cure, or people assuming they can't do anything because they can't do X, or someone acquiring a disability and adjusting to how their life has changed, or a parent mourning for their child's disability... All those are fairly disability-specific plots, and can be quite interesting if done well.