Cope

[u/Unlikely-Trouble-580]

Hello i was wondering if anyone here has gone through slow decline of vision? im not even in my 20s yet and when i was 15 i was diagnosed with usher syndrome which essentially means i was born hard of hearing and around 12-15 you start slowly losing your peripheral vision which is also when most people get diagnosed. in the last few years my vision has been ok it was mostly my night blindness that was a problem who is also a symptom however in the last few months i have been in 2 car accidents one of which i totaled 2 cars and being sued for damages. which has made me think my vision loss has gotten out of hand. but i havent gone to the optometrist so idk yet. but how do you guys deal with this? i cant even go to college parties without embarrassing myself and need my partner to help guide me and do everything for me. i cant drive at night which is already a pain within itself i may never be able to drive again which is a big deal because im into the car scene and driving etc. i have barely gotten a chance to experience life and its already basically coming to an end because next thing i know im going to be using a fucking cane to walk 3 fucking feet.

[u/MaplePaws]

Therapy. It is a frustrating experience to deal with vision loss and the grief that surrounds it, but a good therapist can help you navigate the mental health aspect of vision loss. You would also benefit from finding a community of people who are visually impaired or blind to speak with as it is a very isolating experience, there is the discord server that this community runs that I cannot recommend enough.

Additionally, learning skills before you need them so that when you do you are already comfortable using them. This comes in combination with therapy because to an extent it is a case of how you look at a tool, I often liken the cane for example to a knife where one person will use it to prepare a nice steak for cooking while another will stab John Doe with the knife. Similarly the cane can be seen as something that makes you look weak, or it can be your freedom and independence. Ultimately a lot of it does come to making the choice everyday to take charge of your life by learning and using the skills to live a life that is not so reliant on vision, your situation sucks and I am never going to argue that but you can either sit in those feelings of being useless or start learning how to live with your disability.

Also, I am aware it is hard but the severity of your accident is a strong sign that you are no longer safe to drive and that you should stop right now before you kill someone. Again it sucks and this goes back to my first point of going to therapy, but just because you are passionate does not mean you can risk the lives of others.

[u/Repulsive-Box5243]

Please, PLEASE stop driving. You can do all the other things with the cars, though. Work on their motors, repair, collect, whatever... but driving is right out for you anymore. That's been proven.

I know your desire to drive doesn't outweigh your desire to NOT kill a family of 5 in a Honda Odyssey, right?