xmachinaxxx 6 points 1y ago
I was almost 41 when it happened to me. I’m still learning to cope. I just take it day by day and sometimes that’s all you can do. Reading here helped me a lot. So did YouTube videos from other blind folk. You got this!
howwedo420 6 points 1y ago
If you haven't already get in touch with voc rehab they have some great assistive technologies that can help you. I still gaming I sit about foot a way from 55" 4k tv. Plan to get bigger. Reading audible love that even before I went comply blind. I'm currently in the process of learning braille. One thing seemed have gotten easier to me is doing zoom meeting and talking on the phone. I used to dread, i rather talk via text, but now can't see shit, I prefer talking.
OldManOnFire 5 points 1y ago
A couple weeks back someone else asked a very similar question. Here's the link -
$1You deserve a better than just a copy/paste but I don't have the time right now to give you anything more. And honestly I'm not sure I could write anything better than I did on the thread I just linked.
Just remember blindness is an inconvenience, not a tragedy.
Tarnagona 4 points 1y ago
Going blind is the hardest part, honestly. Having been born mostly blind, I count myself lucky to have avoided that part. You have to relearn how to do just about everything, and some things will be harder. Definitely look into vision loss rehabilitation services where you live, if you haven’t already. They teach you how to do things without sight, independent living skills like cooking to how to navigate the world safely. Plenty of it, you could probably figure out on your own, eventually, but getting blindness training is like a short cut to independance.
I’d say, don’t discount therapy just yet. Therapy’s one of those things that has several methods and approaches, so while one therapist or type of therapy doesn’t work for you, another might be a really good fit, and really beneficial.
Also, regardless of how well you’re coping generally, some days just suck. As I mentioned, I’ve been mostly blind my whole life, have a great life, don’t particularly want to be cured…but still occasionally have a day where I just encounter more barriers than I can deal with, and have a self-pity at my condition. No-one can be positive all the time. And in a world built for sighted people, sometimes being blind just kinda sucks. That’s okay, too.
athennna 4 points 1y ago
What assistive technology or aids do you use? There is so much out there that can help you complete those tasks that are frustrating you.
MKFrost333 2 points 1y ago
It's been about 6 months for me sonce I suddenly became legally blind. Coping for me has been a strange thing. On the one hand, I automatically found ways to do things I used to do since i still have some vision. On the other, I feel aimless in my pursuits because of how hard blindness makes life. I wish I had better advice, but I'm wishing you the best.
SoapyRiley 2 points 1y ago
So to be honest, it was harder knowing I would lose my vision than actually beginning to lose my vision. I started my grieving process very early so by the time i actually lost anything it was just problem solving time. Reading was my big thing too. When I was told I was glaucoma suspect I freaked out. Cried for days. 15 years later (2020)when I started to lose the ability to read standard print (and “large print” for that matter) I just started learning Braille. Once I had a fallback plan, everything was ok. That type of adaptation followed everything in life that my vision was affecting. I had a mission: to take this loss and make it an inconvenience. Frankly, it’s been quite the confidence booster. If I can adapt to this, I can probably do anything.
TechnicalPragmatist 1 points 1y ago
I think acceptance will be good and it’s almost a mind set change but that may take time. I also became blind at a pretty young age so yeah.
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redmarus 1 points 1y ago
I posted a big sad thread that's linked in the comments about some of my challenges dealing with internalized ableism and identity. I would personally discourage therapy, but I'm a survivor of widespread systemic psychiatric violence that works closely with ableism towards tbe disability that caused my VI so take that with a grain of salt.
It's very true about taking things for granted, and something that's helped me a bit is learning to appreciate the muscle memory and tactile skills that were beginning to develop or tht had already been set in place, how even in an aggressively vision centric world so many routines had remained unchanged. I also browsed a lot of other blindness/low vision product listings while cane shopping so I could pilfer ideas to DIY.
Last note: if you have decided to use a cane i would highly suggest adopting an exaggeratedly confident gait. Coming across like you really have your shit together in public does wonders when things that used to be easy are maddeningly difficult and frustrating now.