Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Should I quit university because of macular degeneration? (self.Blind)
submitted by MedAmia
I'm 21 y.o. female , have myopia.I studied architecture 3rd year when I was diagnosed with wet macular degeneration in my left eye last year, and they did two Eylea injections since then.My right eye was ok ( not considering floaters..) until a yellow dot appeared on the left side and everything was distorted, on the next day it became grey and I can't really focus on it, it's not even in the center like on left eye but I suppose it's wet macula too. I have one year till graduation and I'm afraid that continuing will hurt my vision even more. And I'm worried that I won't be able to do my work efficiently. It's even more complicated, because I have to work as an architect 3 years by contract,because my educational fee was covered by government and if I don't work or quit I'll have to return the money. When I signed the contract I didn't have macula,and they changed the contract terms on 2nd year, so I didn't know what was coming. I'm sorry if this is strange or stupid question , but I'm really confused and don't know what to do.
blackberrybunny 3 points 2y ago
NEVER QUIT YOUR DREAM!
aangelis104 3 points 2y ago
I would say follow your dreams and keep going! I am also in uni right now and I’m partially blind. I’ve had a lot of struggles with my work and complications caused by my eye but I’m trying to push through. I would say you should get in contact with your schools office for students with disabilities and see if there’s anything they can do to help you. For me that has been a huge help and they’re great. I’m sure there are accommodations that they have that will help you push through.
MedAmia [OP] 2 points 2y ago
I don't think we have such office, but there has to be such organization in town. I hope they have psychologists to help me accept this fact and move on, and learn how to tell people, especially employer about this, because what I l've learned so far: pretending to be ok is not ok and only cause more problems. Anyway , wish you strength and patience in realization of your dreams and goals ❤️
Different-Sherbert10 2 points 2y ago
I am in my twenties and have wet macular degeneration as well. I understand your concerns. I would definitely talk to your doctors about your concerns. However, as a student with wet macular degeneration, college was tough but I am glad that I persevered. Please do not let your vision control your life.
SnackCredit 2 points 2y ago
Are you in the UK? If so there’s a charity called The Macular Society which have a working age and young person section which could help. There is a fb group called “Working Age and Young People” where you can talk to other people your age etc.
BlueRock956 2 points 2y ago
Hi. Communicate with your docters and get a clear diagnosis of what you have. Then communicate with the higher education program to obtain an extention on the service timeline. I'd recommend you go get rehabilitation training for the blind before you graduate, so that you may implement blindness skills while you learn about architecture. That way, when you graduate you'll have a better chanceof finding a job in the field.
phillstaf 2 points 2y ago
This story may apply to you and really help with your confidence in whatever you choose
https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/programs/gep/iggy/iggy-build.html
https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/programs/gep/iggy/iggy-build.html
MedAmia [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Thanks for sharing. This story was really inspiring, and made me change my mind towards my opportunities.I guess people in my country just have toxic attitude towards people with disabilities, that's why I was so worried. But as an architect I can be the one who changes it.
Amonwilde 2 points 2y ago
I think you should look into ways to do your work so you can get through your year and not derail your whole life. Are you using magnification? What are the activities that are straining your eyes or causing issues? Do you have any financial or family resources to buy equipment or hire a helper for some tasks? In the medium to long term you can do almost all kinds of course work without using your sight, but in the short term you might just need to pull together all of your resources and think outside the box to get through your last year.
Amonwilde 3 points 2y ago
Also, I feel like the contract must have a provision for extenuating circumstances. It would be ideal if you could delay work for a year or two as your retrain to work with a visual impairment.
MedAmia [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Thanks for answering. I'm not sure what kind of magnification you're talking about, but I started using the one embedded in my phone to read something tiny or far. My work heavily relies on computer and some programs that I must use are causing eyestrain, but I guess I can adapt this to my demands, use other CAD and choose specific work. Just hoping that this will fulfill their conditions.None of circumstances described in contract affect me. But you're right, I need time to adapt workflow for visual impairment and stop proggresion of macular disease. I already taught myself to put far less effort in studying and rejecting project offers. And instead sleep more, exercise and just take care of myself. It had such a positive impact on health but made me doubt my competitiveness in the end :/ Guess I'll try to convince doctors and family to give me a break. And again thank you, i really couldn't talk to anyone about this from the beginning, now I feel so much relieved.
Amonwilde 2 points 2y ago
So most OSes (really all of the modern ones) have magnification built in. On Windows, try hitting Control and the plus button to zoom in on stuff on the screen. You might also try inverting the colors to see if that's easier on the eyes. Mac has a similar one, you can investigate the Universal Access menu (search for universal in spotlight search) to see what they offer, but zoom is one of the options.
Another thing to investigate is to have text read to you by the computer or the phone. This can be a little hard to get used to at first but it can be essential and you may need to learn this to continue your work and studies, saving your vision for the CAD stuff or whatever. If you have a Mac, there are options in the Universal Access menu to read selected text aloud. On the iPhone, there is a feature called Speak Screen that will read the current page or whatever you're on, great if you have to read a book or article aloud. You can tell Siri to turn on Speak Screen and it will take you to Settings to turn it on. After that, you swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen to read the current page aloud. On Windows, there is something called Narrator, but I recommend buying a program called TextAloud that is targeted at people who still have substantial vision left or who are dyslexic.
Finally, you may wish to buy a decent monitor (external) and not use your laptop monitor. A good monitor can make a big difference. Try to try some out.
One note that I'll give you is that taking care of yourself will be an advantage to you in the long run. I find you can often get about half the time you spend on self care back in productivity since you're more alert. In the long run if you're taking care of yourself you will have fewer issues that can totally derail others, this starts happening a lot to people in their 30s and later. So it's not time wasted, you're just doing earlier what all effective people have to learn later.
Good luck and take care of yourself. You can message me with questions if you like.
Another thing to investigate is to have text read to you by the computer or the phone. This can be a little hard to get used to at first but it can be essential and you may need to learn this to continue your work and studies, saving your vision for the CAD stuff or whatever. If you have a Mac, there are options in the Universal Access menu to read selected text aloud. On the iPhone, there is a feature called Speak Screen that will read the current page or whatever you're on, great if you have to read a book or article aloud. You can tell Siri to turn on Speak Screen and it will take you to Settings to turn it on. After that, you swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen to read the current page aloud. On Windows, there is something called Narrator, but I recommend buying a program called TextAloud that is targeted at people who still have substantial vision left or who are dyslexic.
Finally, you may wish to buy a decent monitor (external) and not use your laptop monitor. A good monitor can make a big difference. Try to try some out.
One note that I'll give you is that taking care of yourself will be an advantage to you in the long run. I find you can often get about half the time you spend on self care back in productivity since you're more alert. In the long run if you're taking care of yourself you will have fewer issues that can totally derail others, this starts happening a lot to people in their 30s and later. So it's not time wasted, you're just doing earlier what all effective people have to learn later.
Good luck and take care of yourself. You can message me with questions if you like.
MedAmia [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Thank you for explaining it all, I'm slowly bringing this things into my everyday life. Good luck to you too.
siriuslylupin6 1 points 2y ago
Architecture would probably be very challenging as a blind person especially if you are going to become totally blind. Surely the contract if you had an accident or act of God that made you unable like vision loss.
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