(no subject)

[nonionay]

I don't suppose anyone knows of a genetic disorder which would cripple people in some way, to various degrees? (I've got three sisters, and I want one of them to die, one to be moderately disabled, and one to be lightly disabled. I suppose the dying girl could die from other things though.)

In other news, I realize I know nothing about children. Having met my three-year-old cousin, I see that my seven-year-old character acts like she's four. >:(

In other, other news. I'm at work listening to Pandora. Now, for whatever reason, I'm not fond of Genesis, so I banned them from the station I'm listening to. Then, of course, they sneak in Phil Collins. Away he goes, too. Then they sneak in a cover of a Genesis song by heavy metal band, Disturbed. That was pretty cool, though. I allowed it.

Comments

[fenmere.livejournal.com]

skellington can tell you what it's like to be born with one leg longer than the other.

You could have varying degrees of physical deformity like that. One sister would be born too misshapen to live long. One would have a club foot and maybe a club hand. And one would have one leg that's two inches longer than the other.

[shadesofmauve]

Oops, you forgot my 1 at the end!

Unfortunatley for criada, neither that nor my immune disorder are genetic, which makes it much more implausible for all the members of a family to have a degree of the problem. I would be happy to talk to her if whatever she ends up with is in that realm of difficulty, though - I'm all for more fiction including realistic health challenges.

For many disorders/diseases it's important to look at age of onset. Does it present at birth, or only cause trouble later? Also, is it degenerative, and maybe more importantly, do the characters know if it is? Dealing with something you know is going to get worse is totally different from something that will always be 'there' but be reliable. What kind of medical tech and knowledge is around? It's totally possible for a not-so-serious birth defect to result in death if it's undiagnosed, or effects general health, or the general level of care is low (say, throat/oral problems caused feeding difficulty, resulting in a weakened immune system, and death by unrelated childhood illness).

Check out Marfan's, Coeliac, sickle-cell, prader-willi...

For a totally different tack, congenital pain insensitivity is truly bizarre, and could certainly lead to death.

Oddly, I JUST went to a genetics/disorders lecture at the UW, but it was focused on gene patterns that cause mental disability and often differences in facial structure (like this one). With deletion syndromes the syndrome is NOT present in the parents (don't know if that plays into the plot need).

Defects like mine (physical and isolated) are more likely environmental, I think, whereas genetic defects are more generalised, with a wide range of symptoms, and often affect learning ability.

Lastly, screen your potential diseases carefuly for gender bias! You talked about sisters, and guys are much more likely to get a whole handful of genetic issues (colorblindness, hemophilia) because those disorders are carried on the X, and the Y chromosome doesn't have the correct information to 'replace' the defective info.

[shadesofmauve]

Ooh, Spinal muscular atrophy and or various types of displasia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spondyloepiphyseal_dysplasia_congenita

Also, I recently read the website of a really bright woman with Treacher Collins, which afffects facial shape/development - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treacher_Collins_syndrome
That can certainly be dangerous (we use our faces to breath, for ex).

Hmmm...I'm enjoying this hunt too much.

[criada.livejournal.com]

Not sure if those will work in this case, but dang, Treacher Collins is fascinating, and I'm sure I'll use it in Book Six in the Magic Mutant Children Army. (I've been looking forward to that one. :-)

[paulcarp.livejournal.com]

I've got three sisters, and I want one of them to die, one to be moderately disabled, and one to be lightly disabled.

I assume you mean fictional sisters, and aren't really plotting sororicide. Does Muscular Dystrophy work? It's genetic, and varies in life disruption.

[criada.livejournal.com]

>>I assume you mean fictional sisters, and aren't really plotting sororicide.

Yes. :-)

>>Does Muscular Dystrophy work? It's genetic, and varies in life disruption.

That just might work.

[hawkdancer.livejournal.com]

COME EAT CURRY!

[hawkdancer.livejournal.com]

www.atcp.org

I know a family where two of the three kids have it. One of them died. They're Angela's friends.

[laurajerry.livejournal.com]

I was gonna suggestPolio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio), but then I realized you said "genetic" - so that's not really helpful :P

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

I knew a woman who passed down a strange problem to her children, very rare. It causes severe dry eyes and deafness, and can kill. She was deaf, and had to deal with the dry eyes but her daughters were much better.

[westrider.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the diseases, but I'm pretty sure that Pandora is truly intelligent, and likes to fuck with people. I've had it drop in acoustic emo crap when I started with a black metal band.