BookRix

This is for driving right? It may seem tough but to be fair it would be terrible to have a grand mal on the roads.

probaly i'm not excatly an expert

Global developmental delay maybe?

That's kind of generic term, I've usually seen it alongside other diagnoses, but it would fit.

Or maybe William's syndrome?

Sorry to be bombarding this thread, I was just thinking back to what I know about William's syndrome, and I think this would be perfect for your character. People with it do have a kind of definable almost elfish features, but I don't believe people would realize this unless you knew what you were looking for. The make characteristic of this syndrome is highly social and usually described as "joyous". Also, it is common to have an infinity with music (don't know if that could work in your story). Plus, learning and intellectual disabilities can often occur alongside the syndrome.

In short:

http://i.qkme.me/35lm00.jpg

In long:

This is sometimes called the "oxygen paradox,'' since oxygen is both necessary for — and dangerous to — living organisms.

A free-radical molecule consists of two linked atoms of oxygen with an odd number of electrons in its system, not the even number that the laws of chemistry require.

That chemical oddity drives a free radical to steal an electron from a neighboring oxygen molecule. Now the next molecule has the same problem, setting off a chain reaction that can damage DNA and other cell structures.

As the damage piles up over the years, it leads to increasing disability and ultimately is a common cause of death.

Crazy, huh?

Cells need to replicate themselves constantly to maintain their normal function, some with a lower turn-over than others, others never turn over (major neurons). When cells turn-over they copy the predecesor, mother to daughter cell, mother to daughter cell, over and over. The body has numerous processes to ensure that these offsprings are exact copies, but a very small fraction of the time things go wrong, yes, oxygen, normally the ticket to allow vast amounts of energy to be created, can be cell replication's worst nightmare. There are other mistakes that can happen, but oxygen is a more common (though very very rare) thing that can get in the way. You may be aware that oxygen is a great hydrogen acceptor which allows the mitochondria in our cells to create ATP (energy currency for the body). Without oxygen we'd be in a terrible acidic state, trouble is though, oxygen is highly reactive (goes kaboom with fire), it likes forming bonds with other compounds and getting in the way of DNA synthesis.
That is where the problem with oxygen lies, it can disrupt DNA replication so that mistakes can happen. As I stated this is VERY rare, the body has ways of stopping this, but, when replications happen millions of times, well, those rare situations become apparent.
Therefore, the cells with the highest turnover, reproductive organs, the liver, the skin, are at most risk to these mutations. That is why these organs are most prone to cancer.
That is the lay-man's terms for you, sorry its a bit late there. I'm a bit out of touch of all the technical terms since I studied all this back in uni years ago but it should be enough to give a certain understanding.

Good luck on your book, look forward to reading it!!

I don't know too much on burns but I can can give you a couple of crucial facts.

After receiving some large and even hideous, perhaps even black burns, the person will not feel it initially. They will think thay are fine, in a crisis situation they may even lend a hand since they feel like they are so much better off than others. But, hours later, sometimes it takes a whole day to set in, that is where the agony starts. Trouble with burns is that it KEEPS burning. The fire may be quelled but the skin will continue to atrophy (dying as a physiological process) since the trauma will propogate through the dermal layers. This can be fatal, and often is! So if you want your character to realistically survive a burn episode I suggest you do not do a full body thing unless you want it to be a miraculous recovery!

In answer to your questions from my own knowledge: Hospital worthy is straight away!!! They might not feel like it but seriously, they need to be shipped to the burns ward immediately if they want to survive/ minimise devastating burns. Burns, unlike any other assault, will not seem dangerous at first, it might only look a little red, the person merely baffled, but it is DEADLY!! This is not just for your book but for anyone who suffers grievous burns, go to a hospital immediately!!!

What will happen? Outside of fever and vomiting, beyond that I believe the body will undergo a positive feedback system.

Once a body receives stress it will try to rectify that cause, say if toxins are taken in the body will vomit, or if a person stands in the sun they will sweat. The body reacts to circumstances it does not favour to protect itself, this is termed as a negative-feedback-system. However, when stresses are too far gone for the body to recover and protect it will do the opposite, and that is a positive feedback system. That means, in the case of a burns victim, that hot will cease to feel hot. They won't want to put ice to the wounds, they won't seek hydration, they won't even feel pain, but all the while they are dying inside. This a BAD circumstance!

If you're character goes beyond vomiting and fever you can employ this positive-feedback-system to describe their symptoms but know that people mostly die once they reach this point. Not always of course, but mostly. So depending on your story you can use that to your advantage.

How long they have to stay at hospital depends on the degree on their burns but if its anything significant it would not be less than a month. If it's only a portion of the skin people are not usually dismissed too quickly unless its a mere sunburn. If you look up wikipaedia and google they will teach you about the different dermal layers of the skin and, the deeper you go, the less it heals. So skin grafts are a norm in burns. And that tends to mean taking skin from behind the knees and yada yada...

Look and feel, again that depends on the severity of the burns. If you had to have had skin grafts then it is likely there was extrinsic nerve damage, ie, you can't feel the skin so well there. You probably can to an extent, but it feels foreign, like its doesn't really belong.

So... That's pretty much all I know. Now That I look back on what I have written it seems there is a but there but I don't know how much was useful to you!

I hope this helped but if you have any more questions please don't hesitate bring them forward and I will respond as best I can. Just note that what I have stated is true to my own understanding but may be flawed in many ways so don't take what I say by gospel! ;)

Oh, you probably already know this but I thought I should just add: for minor burns vitamin E creams are incredibly beneficial as well as running water but deeper ones, hospital!

Burns are worse than they initailly look. They kill people hours after, days after. They are dangerous because of how silent they are, the afflicted person seems fine at first, then they die. A burn is differnt to any other kind of wound that occurs to a person. It is not the initail severity of the wound, or the pain or the depth or the infection. None of these usually exist. In the end, the flesh burns like the last cinders in a dying fireplace. Trouble is, no one can smell the smoke.

Or you could head to Neptune or Uranus where conditions are such that it could possible be raining diamonds.

did you know at very high pressure and heat, peanut butter can produce diamonds

no i should try that though i dont like peanut butter

WOW

Not too experienced on that front but I knew a guy once who had a little brother with autism. I was not so close to the guy but I had chatted with him on occasion and was shocked to learn after years that his sibling had autism. This guy was loud and attention-seeking, but still a nice guy under it. When I learnt about his brother though and asked about him that was when he was quiet. He spoke about him with a painful glisten to his eyes like there was both a mix of love and embarrassment. This guy was a gym junkie, and yeah pretty attractive, but boasted about his sexual conquests and loudly. It was like he was trying to get all the attention away from home since he never received it there but when there was mention to his little brother he became small voiced and a softie. I think Freud would say there was a few things going on there. Hope that helped!

Hey! I'm in my third year working with children who have special needs. What kind of level are you looking at? I.e., are they verbal? Mobile? Behaviour issues?

i'm going to be massively generalizing here, but I haven't met someone with down syndrome who is not incredibly stubborn. I mean seriously, so much is a battle. But also two of the children I worked with who had down syndrome were also incredibly sweet at the same time. When ever I use to sit down next to him, he would touch my head really gently, kind of as a way of greeting (he was non-verbal).

Is terms of medical issues, from what I know there can be a lot of different complications associated with d.s. Like respiratory problems, and heart problems. Plus their is always some speech problems, but there is a very wide scale.

Family have to deal with social pressures. I use to take a variety of children to the bakery to get food, using devices or visuals or whatever. And people always would ask me what the child wanted, never the child. Some used to never even acknowledge the child at all. It drove me bonkers.

I can give you lots more specifics in term of my experience if you can give me more info about your main character? Just so I know what kind of level they are at?

@Polkadot- I'm not sure why the brother was embarrassed about that situation, but people sometimes look at mental disabilities as a flaw or a "weakness" in their family tree, I suppose. Nothing could be further from the truth, but egos sometime rule our lives.

@Stephanie- That is exactly the type information I am looking for. Interactions with others and general state of mind are the keys to my story. Thank you both so much for the input. It is very helpful in molding the characters and making the book believable.

Hey Fariha, on the left hand side of your keyboard there should be a 'caps lock' button, please hit it! People don't like being yelled at lol =P

ooh ok but i know that,,,,,,,, i was written by mistake..]