I really feel you on the struggling to adapt part of it. I think it is a different process for each person. I still have a long ways to go, i wish you the best on your journey with blindness.

I think adapting is kinda both mentally adapting and coming to terms with your disability and also physically learning the skills. Coping this is what i personally need to work on the most. I am usually a very chill happy nice person, but have lately been very irritable and sad and angry. This started as my vision started getting bad.

I do find that other blind people help more than sighted people usually do. I posted a bit ago asking questions and everyone was just very kind and welcoming. Also finding blind people with similar interests to you can be helpful. I love crafting and i was always like i will never do this again once im blind and it made me so sad, but i have found many blind crafters. I feel like with most things you enjoy, you can find ways to adapt it so you dont necessarily have to loose it just enjoy it differently. I honestly feel so so dumb bc my brain couldnt fathom the idea of blind people doing art and now im like "bro that was dumb." If you can afford it therapy may also be helpful. I never really thought this was for me, but having someone i can just talk my issues through and help with the emotional side of it is really nice. I know therapy isnt for everyone but for me personally it has been extremly helpful in finding coping mechanisms and ways to just be a better person.

I am also still learning through o&m. The more my vision goes, the more a organized living space really helps me out. I dont really have too much advice to give here. Once i get better with Braille i do want to have a pen pal. I have always loved having pen pals and the idea of a blind pen pal just makes me excited and happy. Not sure exactly when this will happen bc i am struggling with braille, but its something im looking forward to.

Hope some of this helps or applies to you. Wish you the best

Blind and profoundly deaf since birth, so I probably don't appreciate the difficulty properly, but I got suggestions.

Do you have family and friends? Get involved in things they do that interest you. Usually people without disabilities won't mind doing something you like if they like doing this thing as well. Take your hobby, find someone else who has it, and see if you can integrate it. If you get one thing to work for you, go right ahead and do it all over again for another activity.

Basically what I mean by that is, if you love something that you can't do as a blind person or at least that you think you can't do, use somebody else who can. My best example is driving. I love anything that rolls on wheels. I drive our side by side utility vehicle with casual assistance from the passenger. Did the same thing on our four wheeler, though most people call those quads. I own a tractor and I restored another one with the help of my dad, but I was in charge and did all the research and ordered most of the parts we used except for the hood. He called around and found one that matched, got spark plug wires etc.

I know someone who restores tractors mostly all by himself, but I have to admit that I wouldn't have ever done this one if it hadn't been for dad's help. So it comes round to me being a lucky bastard and having people who either want to be a part of what I'm doing or don't mind if I want to be a part of what they're doing. Dad used to build houses, so he's a good carpenter. I know how to use most of the tools, he won't let me use circular saws of any type. I know a blind person who has nobody to help but grew up with a supportive family. He does use circular saws and things, and occasionally he might even bloody a finger on something too. He says you have to feed your tools from time to time to keep them happy.

I love building computers. I don't get to do it very much because it costs money, but I can build a desktop pc from parts I bought on amazon.com and newegg.com. I do run into things that are just about impossible like which pins on the motherboard the leds and buttons on the case need to be wired to, but I get help once I know what I need to do and generally I can explain what I'm looking at well enough that somebody can let me know which wires match which pins. I find that usually the things I want help with are things that people find interesting, like the whole motherboard pins thing.

There are so many audiogames out there. Some of which I made! I have a website. I'm on many, many email lists, and I follow reddit. I use an Android phone. I know more about technology than most people around me, so I end up turning Voiceover or Talkback on on their phones to solve problems. When the tv stopps streaming, I'm the one who gets asked if I know what's wrong with it. The modem for our internet is in my room. I bought a mesh network and set it up myself and control it using an app on my phone. We have many Amazon Echo devices all of which I set up. I set up the firestick and the Chromecast.



Call people even that you might not have heard from in a while that had interests common to yours and just say hi. When you get stuck, ask yourself why you're stuck, and how to get unstuck. The tricky part of the last part of the question is asking it from a point of view of a blind person. You want to approach it like a Blind person. I feel like if my mindset is starting out with that angle, I'm probably going to do a better job figuring out what things I can do to make it happen easier. It also means coming to places like this subreddit to see what other blind people may have figured out. Look at it like a challenge. The mindset will be, "I'm gonna make it happen" not "How the fuck am I gonna do that when I can't see for shit?"

Also what's wrong with crying? Let-er-rip. But then you get up and get-r-done.

Being blind is fun. The world is so different for us, and in many ways not all that less full. We do have different challenges, but guess what. We can learn to do something more efficiently than everyone else just as well as we could have done if we weren't blind. Of course there are exceptions to that. As much as I like doing many of the things I get into, it seems like I should be very upset that I can't just take a drive when ever I want or what have you. It does bother me a bit, but I still do these things to some extent.

That right there is the difference. You get to see what you're losing. I get to see what I can do that I hadn't tried before or maybe even that nobody else around me had. I think it might be pretty much impossible for you to end up approaching it exactly the same way I do, but if you get halfway there it'll probably make you a lot happier. And hey, in the end,
I'm profoundly deaf too. I can't hold normal conversations with people in face to face conversations in anything but a very quiet environment with no other noise around, and I can't do anything that requires hearing in windy environments. That means when I'm on the four wheeler I can't hear. We worked out how the sighted person with me can communicate all they need by holding onto my arm. We can steer, speed up, slow down, etc without me needing to understand what they're saying. The side by side has a wind shield so that helps some but it's a diesel and is kinda noisy. Did I mention that I love diesel engines? Lol.

I;m currently a first year in university. Don't get me wrong, its tough (especially with those exhausting ceeling lights) and the shame that tends to come with zooming in on everything, but so far my experiance has been worth it.

I completly understand what it is you're going through, I've also broken down at the thought of having a disability (my vision loss has been quite rapid and aggresive), not to mention I'm still struggling with that label and all the assistance required along with it.

I had an interesting experiance last week, I woke up and my eyesight was just shot completely, I'm talking so blurry and sttuggling to makeout anything, including my laptop and phone. I raced to the hospital and panicked for days, crying and lying in bed. It took me a while to realise it was because of stress and a lack of eating. Its slowly gotten better (don't want to jinx myself), not perfect, but better.

I say all that to say its important to pace yourself. No one is going to judge you for tsking a step back to breath, I know with being stubborn you'll try to hold yourself to a high standard, even at times uneralistic for those with average sight. An experiance like that jusr made me so so greatful for the eyesight I still have and the fact that I'm still bloody alive. I knwo the general advice is to think of all the external things you're greatful for like family, but honestly its a really refreshing feeling celebrating the fact that you're still living and you made it this far. :)

Blindness is not the end of the world.blind people can live a full and fulfilling life. I have been to 6 different state by myself as a single blind woman with minimal help and didn’t just stay in my hotel I went out and had full hectic days. I’ve done a lot in my life from advocacy to representing to doing a lot of assistive technology stuff. I’ve gotten two degrees so far to associates degree in political science and creative writing and trying to get a degree in information technology at the moment. I study things for fun and like learning. I get out and travel my city take buses and go places, I did the entire yelping scene by myself as a totally blind person for a while. And so much more. Don’t let blindness stop you. It’s not what you are, it doesn’t define you and it shouldn’t be an excuse.

You are going to have to learn to advocate for yourself. Although it can be difficult, speak up if you are in a classroom and need assistance.
It hasn’t even been a year for you yet. Losing one of your senses can take a very long time to adjust to. Just try to stay positive and don’t be afraid to ask for help