I'm attempting to write a YA contemporary novel where one of the three MCs is physically disabled. So first off, I made a really big mistake with this character and that was developing her before I had all the facts.
She uses a wheelchair to get around but she has pretty much full control of her upper body. (basically no control in her hips and legs except for a few very minute movements) I pegged her with a form of muscular dystrophy just because... well that's what I have and I can always change it, right? It's just a placeholder until I figure out a disease that matches her symptoms. OH YEAH SURE. Well now she's got a whole character arc (or whatever you want to call it, I don't really know) and it pretty majorly effects her character. As you can see, I'm freaking out because I can't even write a proper sentence. (what even is pretty majorly???)
Essentially, my question is, is it acceptable to say that she has a very rare form of muscular dystrophy that they don't really know anything about since I haven't been able to find a disease that matches her symptoms or is there some kind of rule about basically making up a disease?
She uses a wheelchair to get around but she has pretty much full control of her upper body. (basically no control in her hips and legs except for a few very minute movements) I pegged her with a form of muscular dystrophy just because... well that's what I have and I can always change it, right? It's just a placeholder until I figure out a disease that matches her symptoms. OH YEAH SURE. Well now she's got a whole character arc (or whatever you want to call it, I don't really know) and it pretty majorly effects her character. As you can see, I'm freaking out because I can't even write a proper sentence. (what even is pretty majorly???)
Essentially, my question is, is it acceptable to say that she has a very rare form of muscular dystrophy that they don't really know anything about since I haven't been able to find a disease that matches her symptoms or is there some kind of rule about basically making up a disease?