Ah, my time to shine. I'm 18.

To be honest, that problem will be solved once you achieve some kind of independence, but it doesn't have to be full independence necessarily.

Question, do you feel "useful" to your family and friends? do you feel like a burden? Often, taking control of something, like doing chores around the house, will get you very far.

For reference, I’m legally blind and not much older than you at all. As far as feeling like an equal among peers and the rest of society, you are. I went through a phase where I felt like I, and all others who were disabled, did not deserve to have a place in society. I felt like I couldn’t contribute to the world. But then I found that I could. I’m a writer, and I have plans to publish. Try to find a hobby that benefits others. It really does help. But as far as a love life goes, let me tell you something. Girls day that they want a boy, but I honestly think they’re all dirty liars. I’ve never seen a good high school relationship. Yeah, you might see some high school sweethearts marrying sometimes, but I go to a rather large public high school and every single relationship I see is kinda... meh. You don’t want meh. Just save it. Also, I’ve rejected someone not because I didn’t like them (we are friends) but because I simply did not want a relationship. It’s probably not solely because of you that your love life is “really really bad.”

Teenage years are tough. People your age doesn’t like differences in people. I went through high school without much friends. Simply because no one wanted to hang out. I am a total extrovert and almost had the other problem I was too arrogant and didn’t understand why people didn’t want to hang out with me. Social skills and training yourself on such is important. I really did a lot of observing and used others indications and other people to understand how to socialize properly.j

I am not blind (parent of a VI child) I'm extroverted, always was and I still didnt get a boyfriend till I was 25 and then dated 3 idiots in 2 years. Before that i only had a handful of kisses. My point is as much as its all I wanted from 10 -25, it's not the be all and end all! Would you consider more OM training for independence and then maybe some talk therapy for your self esteem issues?

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