How my vision impairment changed the outlook and quality of my life. - General

[QUOTE=AmericanInfantry;23117263][IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/nwg10z.jpg[/IMG] Here is me. I don't smile in any pictures and I wasn't aware one was being taken, so....[/QUOTE] you look like... a normal person?

Brother I feel for you but do not assume our lives are better than yours. There are much much worse defects in this world and you should be thankful that you have such kind and caring parents. Everything will work out if you let it, go with the flow in life.

Thanks for helping me appreciate what I have OP. :unsmith:

To AmericanInfantry: *hugs* My boyfriend was born blind on one eye so I understand some of the feelings you must've been going through, though surely nowhere near the extent of how you truly feel. Your story touched me, and I guess that's partly the point of your post.

[QUOTE=Oecleus;23117650]I hate people that say shit like this. 99% of them say it only to get attention and sympathy. No one cares if you have thought about killing yourself, it's only important when you actually put an honest effort into killing yourself. Everyone has in one point in there life thought about suicide, and if you haven't you probably aren't 'normal'.[/QUOTE] Have you ever, once, known a person with actual suicidal thoughts and impulses? I do -- I talked the person out of it. It took more time and effort than it would if it were a simple "I want attention because I am a whore;" it's deep feeling of lack of worth, hope, or purpose; it can also be an impulsive thing where you just do it -- and live with the fear that you may one day commit to it. You might be thinking of a superficial thought of suicide, lasting just for a moment, not an actual contemplation where suicide is a true option.

Quick question: what's the best you can see? I mean, can you see the vague outlines of people? Sorry for my ignorance, but the best experience I have of eyesight impairment is a myopic brother.

[QUOTE=Meteos King;23117054]I sit on my ass all day every day, but I have no physical disabilities :([/QUOTE] And your avatar is Air Jordan........ I can see 2 inches in front of me without glasses... augh.. Anyway, good luck to the lot of us. [editline]08:48AM[/editline] [QUOTE=Oecleus;23117650]I hate people that say shit like this. 99% of them say it only to get attention and sympathy. No one cares if you have thought about killing yourself, it's only important when you actually put an honest effort into killing yourself. Everyone has in one point in there life thought about suicide, and if you haven't you probably aren't 'normal'.[/QUOTE] Aw come on, man... [editline]08:49AM[/editline] [QUOTE=JgcxCub;23121244]Quick question: what's the best you can see? I mean, can you see the vague outlines of people? Sorry for my ignorance, but the best experience I have of eyesight impairment is a myopic brother.[/QUOTE] google images, and... it's fuzzy and blurry.

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You should thank nature and science and god and the hospital and your lucky star that you lived. Some babies died after being born prematurely. The fact that you are still alive today proved that you are tough. I respect you OP. Don't be so depressed. There are others who have it worse than you. You are one of the lucky ones. [editline]10:58PM[/editline] So long you have people who care for you, you are fine

I nearly cried. :(

Not one day goes by that i don't consider myself lucky my biggest "fault" is a right ear that goes deaf sometimes...

[QUOTE=Pandamobile;23120080]You write surprisingly well for someone who hasn't even entered grade 9 yet.[/QUOTE] I believe I said I was a junior - I think you're from the UK, right? No hard feelings, pal. No sir, I'm one step below being in the last grade of high school (11th grade). And to everyone else, thanks a lot. Never knew people would respect me and care about me on a forum such as this. I've been on other forums but fuck that - this is my "home" now. Please continue to offer advice, say nice things or generally be nice here. Otherwise, this thread may be locked. (I have a tendency to do that because the forum I was on before this didn't have PMs so mods had to look for such posts in threads.) Seems not many people in real life respect me but people I hardly know do - weird, eh?

I've had bad vision for ever, I can't read shit unless I put it 5 inches away from my face. But contacts fix my problem and I look normal, I couldn't live being blind.

Improve your social life by going outside and try to find situations where you could fit into some group, or let your friends introduce you to more friends or go out with your friends and find more friends etc... and by the way you dont look bad at all, I know a lot of people who look much worse than you do. Also if you have a nice personality your looks don't matter. People just need to get to know you, they might rate you based on your looks at first but just use humour and joke about things and you will be inside the group in no time.

My eye's are at a certain blindness point where if I take my glasses off, and go under water, I can see perfectly.

You're way too hard on yourself. I know quite a few people that look the same way, and they aren't ugly. You need to get some confidence in yourself.

Become a blind man, and then learn how to use your ears to fight, become the next [img]http://pinkbunnyears.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/daredevil.jpg[/img]

I love how I'm one of the few people that posted legitimate advice instead of this bullcrap "awww everything is gonna be fine" shit and I get completely ignored. I think it's safe to say that you posted this for pity, not advice.

Inquiry for the OP: Do you ever make an effort towards your friends to hang out with them outside of school?

my left eye is 20/40, gonna get LASIK after a few more paychecks

[QUOTE=MaverickIB;23127778]I love how I'm one of the few people that posted legitimate advice instead of this bullcrap "awww everything is gonna be fine" shit and I get completely ignored. I think it's safe to say that you posted this for pity, not advice.[/QUOTE] Don't worry, Maverick, I'm following your advice and I never asked for, and actually hate, pity. And to the guy who asked if I ever made any move to hang out with friends: no one ever seems interested in hanging out with me, but someday I'll hit up the places people my age hang out and see who's around.

@OP: Never stop to struggle. You are a human being and worth of being noticed as one. Be thankful for your parents, as they love you - be thankful for living, as you could be dead - Make little steps until you reach a certain level of happiness where you can stay - contently. @Quo Vadi: Don't do it. Lasik changes your capapility of dusk vision. Read it up - It's not as good as it sounds. About 40% of Lasik users complain about problems with their sight afterwards.

[QUOTE=Meteos King;23117054]I sit on my ass all day every day, but I have no physical disabilities :([/QUOTE] After reading this you realize life is not a waste and you should treasure every moment? :smug:

[QUOTE=MaverickIB;23117260]I have fucked eyes too. I can only use one eye at a time, so whatever eye I'm not using goes off and turns into a lazy eye. I have to switch between eyes constantly because one is nearsighted and one is farsighted. This also makes depth perception a slow process for me because I have to take a picture of something with one eye, switch, then take a picture with the other in order to determine accurately how far away something is. I'm not the most attractive guy in the world either. Despite these things, I have a successful social life because I don't whine about them. Your intention may not be to whine, but every time you blame being sheltered and your vision for your social ineptitude, you're whining. Really, all you can do is just man up and deal with it. Life isn't like poker, you don't get to fold and get a new set of cards. You have to play the ones you're given, even if they're really shitty. However, you're more likely to win if you bluff and bet your ass off than you are if you sit and tell everyone how shitty your hand is. My ugly mug at prom. <picture> Seriously. Fuck counseling, fuck trying to find ways around things. There is no way around what you have. There is no magical way to put aside your vision impairment and your looks as if they never existed. Play your fucking cards the best you can, let luck handle the rest. Can't get lucky if you never gamble.[/QUOTE] No offense, OP, but I'm not getting much empathy for you. I mean, yeah, you're legally blind in one eye. While that's certainly sad, and I feel for you there, I don't think it really deserves a thread - one of my friends is legally blind in both eyes, and she's quickly losing the rest of her vision - and she's one of the happiest people you'll ever find. It sounds like your social issues are more your own problem than anyone else's - you're not ugly, you don't have a lazy eye, and you don't have tentacles growing out the back of your head. So what's stopping you from going out and talking to people, exactly? This guy, on the other hand, I'm feeling far more empathy for. And he's not bitching about it. Not trying to sound like an asshole. I feel sorry for the vision problems mate, but, that's about it. And if everyone who had vision problems like yours made a thread, well... We'd have a lot more threads than we do now. Like this guy said, just learn to deal with it, and don't bitch. Bitching doesn't get you anywhere. [editline]Fish[/editline] Not saying you're bitching, though. From the looks of it, you're not really asking for anything - which, admittedly, makes me wonder why you even made this thread. Just work on getting over scapegoating your disability and parents.

Wear an eyepatch on your bad eye. You'll go up 10 cool points.

This is such a shame. Why does it never happen to bastards? At least you can still essentially see, you can now truly appreciate sight!

[QUOTE=Micr0;23129086]Wear an eyepatch on your bad eye. You'll go up 10 cool points.[/QUOTE] I'd do that if I can find one. Also, if you guys would like to see my equipment I use, feel free to ask.

It's stories like these that make me realize that I shouldn't be complaining at all about my life... Respect man, seems like you have to put up with a lot of shit.

[QUOTE=one free man;23129167]This is such a shame. Why does it never happen to bastards? [/QUOTE] It does. I have fucked up eyes and I was an asshole jock in HS, now that I'm in college, I'm pretty much a full-time asshole. It's just that in order to be a bastard/asshole/douche/whatever the fuck you want to call it, you have to be confident and have a lot of self pride. When people are presented situations like the one the OP is in, they rarely have a lot of those two things. I say rarely because in some instances, like mine, they do.

Dude, you look great! And negative thoughts are way stronger than positive thoughts. It is easy to bring up the negative thoughts, and maybe 90% of your life will consist out of negative thoughts, but never ever think you are the only one. I don't like the last sentence in your story. [quote]Thanks to anybody who took the time out of their lives, [b]which are better than mine[/b], to read this and thanks to those who comment and help a brother out, it means a lot to me.[/quote] Don't ever say that. That is crazy. I could name so many people who have it worse than you. That isn't a reason to make you feel better, just don't think you have it the worst of all. Find something to do, a hobby, which doesn't consist of playing games behind the PC. Show people that you can live like any other person, even with all the problems you have! Do not ever, EVER, give up. You have so much to live for. Think about your parents reaction when they find out you killed yourself. Suicide is plain egoism. I believe you can do so much more than telling us about your story. Good luck and you can always PM me if you want.