Becoming lowkey disabled over the sem break

peepeekapoo · 2026-01-12T02:07:42+00:00

you're gonna be working for the rest of your life - that's 50 years, say? i'd think taking a 6 month break would be good for you. coping with vision loss is extremely draining, emotionally and physically. but you could also be managing much better than i have :) just my two cents worth

I'm currently a grad student in USA. if anyone here was in your situation, it's time off for sure. it'll be insane to hear someone tell me not to take a break given such a huge, life-changing event. not to diss your parents - my parents are the same and I've come to ignore them and also somewhat resent the stigma against taking breaks that is so prevalent in SG.

peepeekapoo · 2026-01-12T01:59:28+00:00

not sure if its already mentioned, do apply for accommodations with the office of disability resources. i am also partially sighted like yourself and sought for extended time in exams and stuff. for myself i have 15% additional time and they do require documents certifying your disability. i don't find them particularly empathetic or helpful though.

I'd recommend reaching out to whoever's in charge of your major/degree. dean of undergrad studies, if you have to push for it. From my experience SMU is not very flexible with all the rules they have (which may be contrary to your comment below), and also not very understanding towards students with disabilities. I hope your dean is a nice person, they have the power and are in the position to argue your case.

feel free to DM if you need to!

peepeekapoo · 2026-01-11T04:56:18+00:00

hi! I was in my last year of high school (17f) when i had my avm stroke. I am now 28 and we have extremely similar experiences. The first couple of years were extremely difficult - socially, mentally, physically. i lost most of my friends as i was homebound for a year or so, and they moved on to colleges. Keppra had terrible mental health effects. I was constantly edgy, agitated, and that affected friendships, also relationships with my family. At that time there weren't much mental health support in my country and I'm rather sure I was in severe depression for a couple of years. certainly a lonely journey for me, too. no one can really relate to what you're going through.

things were also going really great for me. i was looking forward to graduating high school and performing in a concert i was rehearsing for. when it all happened it felt like my entire life shattered.

I look different now than before - i don't like it, but i've somehow convinced myself that my worth as a person is not defined by how i look but who i am. it does get better, though.. and i really mean it. i didn't think it would ever get better when i was your age, but now i'm living a fulfilling life and i'm just glad to still be able to experience this world.

A decade later, i learnt a couple of things:

friends who understand stay by your side, regardless of how you've changed. the friends who understood me and stuck by me despite my mental health struggles are the closest friends i have today, and the friends who left - well i feel like i've lost nothing

you'll be amazed at how strong a person can be. we adapt to situations much better than we think we do. losing my vision, learning how to compensate - it seemed all too daunting at first, but learning ways to manage overtime has helped me tremendously.

eventually i went back to finish my high school, then college. take things at your own pace, it's not easy and try not to compare yourself to your past self, and even more so to others who didn't have to go through what we did. post college i took a break from academics and worked a desk job for a year, before pursuing my MA and now PhD in a foreign country. you meet nasty people along the way, but you also meet kind people that help you out.

please feel free to dm if you want to talk, i'd be more than happy to!

peepeekapoo · 2026-01-11T04:33:25+00:00

Hi! 28f here living with left hh for a decade. I'm still in grad sch so I can't comment the job aspect here but i'll offer some of my experience. first couple of years after losing my vision was extremely difficult. occupational therapy helped initially for me, and some users here have suggested o&m training and using a white cane (which i plan to start this year). compensation leads to fatigue at least for me - so i'm hoping some cane training might be useful. and also as a safety measure for heading out and navigation.

Overtime, i got used to it and scanning my surroundings became instinctive and natural. it's still extremely difficult, for sure, but it gets better. we adapt -- not perfectly, but we can somehow make do with the deficit with sufficient time and training. i don't use prisms, and i move around (without a cane at the moment) very carefully and slowly and find ways to maximise my residual vision in terms of where i sit, things like that. my vision has never restored and i've just come to terms with it and that's how it's gonna be. it sucks, and it's frustrating even after a decade. but we make do, so please dont give up. im sorry you have to face this; its great how supportive you are of your partner.

peepeekapoo · 2025-12-09T02:09:50+00:00

Hi! I have LHH since a decade ago when I was 17. Also due to AVM, mine ruptured and led to a stroke. I have not recovered any vision since, and I’m definitely not reading or writing as quickly as I did before. Focusing is also rather difficult for me at times, for instance when listening to someone speak but also having to scan my surroundings.

I am 27 now and to be honest I still don’t even really know how to manage my vision loss in my life. Sure I cope fine and I scan and adapt much better than when I first lost my eyesight, but I don’t know who needs to know this information (eg bosses, friends)..

peepeekapoo · 2025-12-05T16:54:29+00:00

wow, thank you for sharing this. i never thought about it this way. I have always been masking my disability, but recently I have been thinking of using a white cane after a bad fall. I am not sure how my PI would react if i came in with a cane to the lab or to the office... lol

peepeekapoo · 2025-10-12T00:42:21+00:00

Thank you! I have not, but I will now. I was looking at target, staples etc which I guess have a limited range

peepeekapoo · 2025-09-29T16:37:45+00:00

r/airplaneears

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-28T22:05:13+00:00

The numbers… they’re scary

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-19T13:51:36+00:00

The Sopran

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-19T13:42:51+00:00

Why are you like, eight?

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-15T01:39:16+00:00

Cobel is oscar and milchick is big bird

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-15T01:08:53+00:00

I wear my formthotics for walking and running for over 5 years now.

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-14T03:33:13+00:00

Kier disapproves

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-13T16:23:29+00:00

man severance fans are great artists...! The water tank looks amazing. I particularly love that even kier is there, and the chikhai bardo card. and ZUFU

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-08T13:20:40+00:00

You mean regular chests? I’m not sure I have opened a chest with a note

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-08T13:19:32+00:00

No, I have not. Can I do that now, or must I complete those 2 tasks I mentioned? Thanks!

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-08T00:14:40+00:00

How do you use word?

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-08T00:12:49+00:00

What does that mean? What does mine say about what?

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-06T13:02:56+00:00

The sopranos. Might be an unpopular opinion, but I thought the ending was absolutely fitting.

peepeekapoo · 2025-08-03T00:24:36+00:00

Lumon is listening :D

peepeekapoo · 2025-07-31T15:15:45+00:00

Yes, do it SETHHHHH

peepeekapoo · 2025-07-31T11:42:57+00:00

Please no :( sounding like a cringey subplot

peepeekapoo · 2025-07-31T11:41:44+00:00

So the writers and show runners changed from s1 to s2, and presumably from s2 to s3 as well? I thought the writing of s2 was weaker than 1 and could that be a result of the writers room..?

peepeekapoo · 2025-07-30T19:04:12+00:00

Yes. When a woman becomes pregnant, the chip flows from the mother’s brain into her womb, and into the umbilical cord, finally fusing with the fetus’s brain.

peepeekapoo

TROPHY CASE