It's a pretty traumatizing prospect to learn that you are going to be visually impaired, but if you are otherwise healthy I think it's ridiculous to assume you are just going to sit at home and be a burden the rest of your life. Hell, even with other health issues, that would be something that happens only if you allow it to.

It's going to be more challenging in many ways, but being blind doesn't make you helpless. I understand why it seems like it would though. As someone who relied on my good vision for 35 years I was devistated when I lose most of it earlier this year. I went through a lot of emotions. I even considered ending it, but my roommate was smart enough to realize he should keep the guns away from me.

Go ahead and feel hopeless right now. Get that shit out of the way. You won't think clearly about what you need to do next until you can move past that.

Get some counseling. Losing your sight is akin to experiencing a death. And in the same way you will find a way to continue on without what you had before.

Then start preparing yourself. Start learning the skills you need before you actually need them. O&M (Orientation and Mobility) classes to learn how to get around without relying on sight. Occupational Therapy can help you adapt to whatever career you end up heading into. there are some jobs that blind people obviously cannot do, but there is a greater amount that can be adapted in some way to allow you to do them.

Regarding the student loans, there’s a way to get them forgiven. Basically get a doctor to say “yep, yer blind” and spend the next 3 years working on your mobility and orientation so after your loans are forgiven you can find work you like.


https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/disability-discharge

> If you post that damn hotline number, I swear I'll end it now

lol well at least you still have some sense of humour. i hope you don't kill yourself. there is still a lot for your to explore and experience even without vision.

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i am going to be honest with you, many blind people have come to the same conclusion you have about living with a disability. a lot of blind people end up taking their own life. its not the path that i would choose and i am only telling you this to make sure you know you aren't alone. i don't think its so much the blindness that pushes people over the edge but the dramatic change of life. i remember reading a story about this one successful mechanic that was born blind. when he was middle-aged doctors figured out a way to fix his eyes and give him vision. but living in the sighted world was too much for him. he didn't know how to cope with having vision. his business and personal life started to suffer. eventually he took his own life. but if you can prepare yourself and work through getting adjusted to such a new lifestyle you can live well.

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that being said, there are a lot of blind people who do make it in this world. they have satisfying careers and families. the good news is that having your vision now gives you some time to prepare for life as a blind person.

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there is a screen reader called NVDA that allows blind people to use a computer without using a monitor or mouse. everything is done with a keyboard and the speakers read the text on the screen out loud. the really cool thing about this program is that is was coded by a couple of blind guys. you can look up videos on youtube to learn more. there are also other screen readers like JAWS and windows narrator.

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edit: also, have the people i know that are blind i met in university. one of them was a psychology professor. its not easy to finish university while blind but it is possible.

Hey, man, hold up.
Its bad, but not life endingly bad.
I am blind with no usable vision at all. I have a good job, am married, and have kids.
There will be hard times, but life goes on and you will be ok.
There is no shame in some therapy. Also start to learn some blindness skills.
Feel free to pm me if I can help.

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In addition to echoing the need for counseling (not because of where you are, but because nearly everyone passes through this place at times...can pm a recommendation if you want), my advice is to meet some blind folks in real life, and to dive deep into learning what their practical daily life ACTUALLY looks like, what assistive device options enable them to do things that are important to you, and common career paths -- especially career paths within your interest area. The more real options you see before you, the less it will seem like a terrifying abyss.

Case in point...there is a huge difference between full blindness and legal blindness. One means accessing the digital world through screen readers or refreshable braille displays. The other might just mean sitting really, really close to a big monitor, or wearing special equipment that routes your vision to your remaining cells.

"Wearing funny looking glasses" and "having my computer read to me at my great job" describe a different and equally plausible future to what you fear. Your diagnosis tells you what physical changes might come. It doesn't tell you that you will be miserable after the changes come. Usually the fear is worse than the reality.

Plus: fields are changing fast. Biology used to be a lot of lab work. Now many of the advances are coming from computational biology. Legal blindness might slow you down a bit as a computational biologist, but much less than, say, reading Reddit at work. Blind folks I know are chemists, lawyers, programmers...

Right now: yes, get some counseling. Hang out. Play some video games. If you are worried about being a burden in your 40s... don't. Not yet. Speaking as a parent: I promise you, losing you is a forever burden, an unimaginable burden. Having a kid take an extra decade to find themselves? That's f-ing normal these days. It's usually ADHD or video games or depression. If I have a kid home who is well adjusted and happy and just has trouble finding work because they are adjusting to a disability -- that's no burden. Especially if they can shop for me on Instacart, call themselves a Lyft, clean the house, make dinner. You might need them to tell you there is a stain on your shirt. But otherwise you'd be perfectly self sufficient, even IF you were on SSDI. My spouse is on SSDI. She can't work. Does that suck? Yes. That sucks! But she's a great mom, a great spouse, and her disability check really helps cover the bills. I'd love to wave a magic wand and make her *disability* go away. But I'd never want to lose *her.*

Parents who lament kids not moving out? It's usually because the kid is miserable and toxic. Parents whose kids are happy and still at home at 40? They often love it because they are reaching the age when they could use some help around the house. Heck; around that age a lot of kids start moving home because their parents start getting frail and lonely.

So. For now. My advice is to eat, sleep, play, get through the day. Plan for the near future. The thing about slow moving diseases is that they move slowly, giving you time to adjust. Everybody is home this year. Take the year off. Adjust. You picked a perfect year for it. When you're ready, make a plan for the next year. But you don't need that today.

There is definitely a way for you to succeed in college. It’s hard. Not going to lie. I’ve been blind all my life. But you can do it. I knew a lady who went blind as a junior in college. She was a chemistry major. She is still in college and passing with straight A’s.

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The unknown is very scary and it's understandable to feel this way. But please don't lose hope. If you need someone to talk to please call the hotline below.

1 800-273-8255