Jewels from My Desk

Hi everyone, I would usually private message a writer's group, but I don't seem to get replies from those (maybe they're too backlogged)? So I'm reaching out for general help. If you visit my blog, you might notice two of my original characters (OCs) pop up a lot. Their names are Finola and Carlotta (no relation, but besties, from a duology). Finola is (was) the legally blind, wordsmith hacker; Carlotta is (was) the mobility aid user, gifted singer, and songstress. Their universe was speculative in my first draft; they lived in a split version of the U.S. where one half of the country accepted disabilities and the others basically just treated disabled people like work camp fodder. But that wasn't working for me, for so many reasons. Chief reason being, even if these girls were revolutionaries who fought their country's mindset, they still lived in that environment, and that still communicated in some way, "Disabled people don't belong." So what I'm doing now is, Carlotta and Finola live in a speculative *fantasy* universe, where the focus is on magi-tech. I now want the focus to be, they're disabled, but they aren't the villains' targets because of it. Disabled people can still live peaceably, but F and C are targets because they are "twice-exceptional." They are disabled, plus gifted in both tech and magic in a world that makes you choose one or the other. What this leads to is: I want these girls to be disabled, or obviously "coded" as such. But I don't think it's gonna work to give them disabilities that would exist IRL like blindness or mobility aid use, at least not the kind tied to medical diagnoses (because then I start asking myself, what about sickle cell? Down Syndrome? Fragile X? High support autism? All these disabilities I have no business writing about because I am disabled, but those aren't my experiences). I'm leaning toward Finola and Carlotta having some kind of "glitch in their gifts" that means, they still express magical ability, but in a "disabled" fashion. Something that, under bad circumstances, causes symptoms like pain or illness or memory issues. They would have the same "disability," but different "symptoms." And, I'm thinking one or both is neurodivergent, whether because of gifts, disability, or both. My question: How would you handle this? How would you "frame" this disability in your head? How would you "explain" it to a reader? Some hints (what I know for sure): -F and C are orphans (they have a mild version of this disorder; whatever it is, it killed their families and many others) -This is something only girls get (the villains go after gifted girls; I'm going for kind of a Handmaid's Tale meets Moses meets Esther vibe) -Finola and Carlotta do NOT want to be cured. In fact, the villains are bad guys because they experiment on them/try to force cure. Any and all help appreciated! And if you've got questions, please ask, either here or in my DMs. All the best, -Ruby