jon_snow

One of the characters in my story is an albino. I've read some about albinoism, enough to know that their eyesight is typically poor, so this character wears glasses. Also, I've read that their skin is more easily burned, so this character wears cloaks often. Is there anything else I should know?

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Gilles

First, there's no "o" in Albinism.
Second, it's "Person with Albinism" (This is just a personal pet peeve.)
Alright then...
There are different types of Albinism. The symptom that crosses over molst of them is a range in hair, skin and eye discolouration. Hair is white, yellow/blonde, or reddish-blonde. Skin varies in how pale it is. Eyes are usually blue.
The Hermansky-Pudlak syndrone, though technically not Albinism, has the same symptoms plus an Hemophilia-like symptom and inflammation of the large intestine. Some forms having scarring of the lung tissue.

Hope this helps.

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jon_snow

Ok, thanks, I wasn't sure how to refer to them.

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I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men.

Shawn

Albinism always makes me think of somebody afflicted with the condition of being able to play the guitar.

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lin

Says who? The word commonly used for centuries and most people is "albino". The term "albinism" derives from it.

One of my pet peeves is people insisting on johnny-come-lately politically-correct bombast.

You want to get interesting with this, if story permits, make the guy black. Ever seen an albino negro? Weird-looking. But it could jump off a lot of interesting byplay in a book.

(unles the correct term is "white black man" or something)


BTW, if anybody is going to come back with PC bullshit about this "person with albinism" bullshit... you realize their are albino animals, as well?

And this...what is the adjective used to describe them if not "albino"? "Albinisitic?"
And if "albino" is the adjective, why can' it be the noun?

How else would one describe the rare albino wino rhino?

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Gilles

lin: I have a neurological disorder and dislike it when people refer to me by my diagnosis because, well, that's not who I am.

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Swamp Thing

Gilles -

While I understand your desire not to be labeled with your condition, to conflate that to everyone who is/has something is pc bullshit. I once helped a group of autistics, and you will see why I use that term quickly, organize a non-profit corporation to help other autistics. If I'd said people with autism, they'd have laughed at me. Their autism was as much as who they were as their race creed or color. In fact the Cure Autism Now group was one of their first targets; as far as they were concerned CAN was a bunch of Nazis.

Go talk to the deaf a Galadet College (sp).

I don't know how albinos see themselves - but they may not agree with your johnnie come lately descriptions of having everything being prefised (sp) by "with"

Some people just "are". My son is autistic. Deal with it.

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lin

That doesn' mean you should tell others what to say and what not to say and fuck around with the language to suit your sensibilities.

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Erdhexe

There is a lot of info in Wikipedia about the different kinds of albinism. There are many health issues connected with albinism that need to be checked out before deciding to create a character in a novel and make him/her a hero (unless you don't care if it is realistic or not).

"Albinos" are usually very self-confident, and many don't mind being referred to as such. So long as it is said in a respectful way.

I hope this helps.

Claudia

Gilles

What I meant was: If I feel that way, then it is only logical to assume there are others, no matter how small the amount, That feel that way too. I am respecting those few people by using this language. Those others that don't mind being called "Albinos", or whatever their disorder may be, likely don't mind being called what I call them.

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jon_snow

Yeah, this character has been called a freak and a demon, and he's very self-confident and reclusive.

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I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men.

PageOfCups

If you're going to have their eyes looking red (this only happens in very severe cases and usually means their vision is very poor) make sure you remember they're not actually red. The iris just lacks enough pigment to block out the light so it shines through and reflects off of the retina to create the pink/red look. With this the pupil is also that colour. Just in case you thought it might have been the pigment.

Oh, and because the terrible eye sight is due to light pentrating the iris, effectively rendering the focusing of the eye using the lense and pupil pretty much useless, I don't think glassess would would actually improve this. They might, but I doubt it, so you should probably look a bit further into that. I'm guessing their ability to see would be pretty important. I got around this with the use of magic in the novel I'm writing (it was pretty surprising to see someone else using a character with albinism in theirs), but that would be pretty useless if you're not writing a fantasy.

rumpole40k

Little quirk from a close friend of mine afflicted with the condition. One eye was horribly near sighted, the other far sighted. He'd tilt his head to the right when talking or reading and tilt to the left when driving or watching TV. He purposely minimized the exposure of one eye to what he was looking at.

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seigfried007

I wrote an albino princess once--she had the rare pink-eye form even though most have blue eyes. She was from a typically dark complected people and lived in a very sunny area so, needless to say, she burned a couple times

I've met several albinos--always been very friendly people ime. They burned horribly so most of the ones I've met were actually reddish or bright pink with pale blondish-whitish hair. I've never met one that was ostracized but all the ones I've met were also Caucasian and it might be different for people who tend to be dark and can't realistically just pass themselves off for Norse. Being that I'm very fair, I fit right in with them in talks about getting crispy

I've seen pictures of albino blacks and Hispanics and the difference is far more extraordinary but I have no knowledge of what social pressures they might have faced.

I'd imagine that--barring another skin issue (for instance allergies, ecxema, psorasis)-albinos would take the usual precautions of people who have fair skin or vision problems: glasses, SPF5000 sun block and keeping to the shade when possible (and avoiding water or other magnifying environmental issues without outrageous sun block).

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