If Reddit was a restaurant third party apps are franchises. We can get a burger from Reddit directly or from a franchise. The official Reddit location is at the top of a cliff. Disabled people can't get there. Reddit is charging franchise fees so high nobody else can afford to offer burgers. We, with thousands of other subreddits, have went dark for 48 hours on June 12th. Thank you for understanding; app so bad, vision required to go dark.
Latterly I've noticed my vision is on the fritz and getting worse. I have Ushers so a loss of both sight and hearing.
I just became a mom to a absolutely beautiful girl and i want to visually watch her grow. My vision is like a overlay of flickering noise from tv that also blurs shone details.
The only way i can read these days is white on black and who knows how long that will last... I miss reading regular print.
I've been thinking, what's one thing i want to see before many vision goes to shit... I want to see the Grand Canyon.
I've seen many wonderful sights growing up but not that one. Many regent is not seeing the Milky Way when i starved a lot as a kid as i was never told you could faintly see the galaxy. but i might hacer a skit as seeing Saturn or Jupiter. Oh and northern lights, i want to see that on a cloudless night.
I did get to watch ISS going across the dusk sky. That was cool.
That's all i wanted to say off my chest. Thanks for reading
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Absolutely beautiful response.
Interestingly, I found myself nodding in agreement to it with regards to how I approached my mental health problems: I had the exact same experience where there was a frustrating "inbetween" period where I knew I had PTSD and yet I was still trying to force myself to act like nothing was wrong, exacerbating everything.
I think that's the real killer - you need to force yourself to accept that, on a deep level, Things Have Changed Now. It's incredibly hard, but makes such a huge difference to your ongoing mental health.
You stop looking at yourself as a failure, listing all the things you "used to" - or worse: "ought to" - be able to do, and start looking at what you're going to do. Constantly beating yourself up over your perceived inadequacies is a straight shot to depression
Of course, this is all easier written than done. It took me a lot of support and a couple of breakdowns to figure this out, and I'm still learning to put it into practice.
This made me cry like a baby. I have a medical condition that leaves open the possibility that I will go blind. It's not imminent, but my eyesight is worse each year and each time I have to go to the doctor, I stress over what he'll tell me. Reading this gave me more comfort than you can imagine. Thank you.
40 years ago, an eye doctor told me that I would be blind by the time I was 21 after I lost half the vision in my left eye. I didn't go blind, but the idea had terrified me ever since. But, your wonderful, powerful essay has made the fear abate for the first time ever. For 40 years I've had this fear whispering in my brain, but now because of you, it is silent. Thank you for bringing some peace to a long time fear.
You made me cry in a Canadian Tim Hortons at Calgarys first snowfall while a lovey song from my high school days played and it was sappy and sad and beautiful
This was one of the most profound personal stories I have read. You should really consider being a writer.
I think it is an experience that many people can relate to of adjustment to new realities, and how you can shift your perceptions to find the world beautiful in other ways.
I'm also going blind and I'm beyond scared and feel very alone. I was contemplating suicide but reading your response made me feel less alone and I don’t think I’m going to do it now.
This is an incredible post and very encouraging. I was thinking, what words could there be to encourage?
This is. I'm saving it
I've had a fear of going blind ever since I could think of it. Not saying it's gone, but if it ever happens this will surely help calm me down. Thank you.
Sorry to hear that your vision is getting worse. It sucks that things are getting worse. Unfortunately, there often isn't anything we can do about it. You may not be able to see your daughter growing up, but that doesn't mean you can't still be there for her. A coworker of mine lost his vision before having kids, so he's never seen his three daughters before. But still, he was one of the best fathers I know.
Op, we are hear for you and will help you through this time in your life.
http://www.ryanknighton.com/cmonpapa.html
http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/464/invisible-made-visible?act=0
Ryan Knighton went blind at 18. He wrote a book called Cockeyed about going blind as a teenager, and he also wrote a book called Come On Papa about being a blind parent. As someone who is going blind and still planning on having kids, hearing his stories have really helped me. I love his attitude about everything. He is very funny about a topic that is usually so devastating and sad.
If you are looking more for just a simple acknowledgement that this just sucks, and the deeply personal and intimate ways it sucks, I would check out John Hull the Australian theologian, who went blind in adulthood and kept a recorded diary. His diary was the inspiration and audio for the short film "Notes on Blindness." For more information on John Hull there is this link http://www.notesonblindness.co.uk/about-john/
So reading those. Thank you!
If you do make the trip to see the Grand Canyon, also go a just a few hours south to see Sedona. They complement each other wonderfully!
Remember, medicine is getting better and better. Not only you but a lot of visually impaired people will be able to restore their vision in the near future. Blindness will be cured, just like deafness. Just try not to lose hope. There's a lot of people trying to help visually impaired people like you.
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This post gave me a lump in my throat. I'm not, nor am I close to anyone who has a vision impairment (I came here from best of), but the way you described your struggle to accept life changes that were being forced upon you, and your final acceptance, is really inspiring. Thank you.
Do you also happen to have retinitis pigmentosa?
I have the same conditions bud...
I do have rp
L