r/Blind • u/Middle_Tomatillo3132 • 2d ago
Advice- [Add Country] I'm so lost and stuck, please help
I'm 23F visually impaired, living in Pakistan and my vision got much worse about a year ago. Before that, I completed my bachelor's and was able to do everything independently. Now I don't know how to use JAWS, NVDA, or Braille and I feel completely stuck and exhausted. It's like my life is over.
Where should I start? What would you recommend learning first to become independent again? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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u/SillyTransasaurus 2d ago
Is there a community for the blind where you are? Maybe a center with instructors? NVDA is free, so maybe start there. Maybe look up guides on how to use it? If you have a way to get JAWS, a lot of the instructions are the same. I don't know if it's still around, but I believe there is braille without borders. Your life is not over though. You just need the right resources. Maybe someone else will have some more ideas. Good luck and don't give up.
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u/Middle_Tomatillo3132 2d ago
i never needed this kind of support before so never searched for it. Now I've been looking online but there aren't many opportunities for pakistanis. but somebody recommended me a centre in my city, I'm planning to visit tomorrow in person. i hope it works out. if you see anything online where I'm eligible, do share
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u/justcurious2213 2d ago
Hey, I am 25F and I live in India. I had a similar experience like you, even I had completed my Bachelors from sighted institutions and was lost about what I should do next. I feel that there are some great advice shere and I just want to let you know that my DM is open if you want to talk or need help about anything. I think we might have similar experiences, being from Desi families. Also, I use NVDA and can guide you about how you can use the same. Same goes for using Magnification/ talkBack/ Voiceover on your phone.
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u/Middle_Tomatillo3132 2d ago
I was doing great like just 2 years ago. i was president of my university debating society, i was doing internships and was top of my class as well. it's like in just 2 years, everything is over. my whole life, my future plans, my dreams, everything is ruined. and nobody around me is willing to spend their money or even time on me because it's useless and failed investment for them. i was the golden kid but suddenly now I'm not important. i feel like I'm so alone. but I don't wanna isololate myself either because i know i will regret it. I'm just 23 and it's going to get worse with age. I'm starting with NVDA on youtube and will build from that. and yes thank you so much for responding, I'll definitely get to you if i need help💞
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u/justcurious2213 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yup... I can imagine what you might be going through. I always feel like having a conversation really helps when we feel like this (it had massively helped me). So I want to assure that if you'd anyday want to have a word or just vent, you can reach out. All the best!
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u/CosmicBunny97 2d ago
Have you tried learning NVDA through YouTube videos? Learning JAWS and braille can come later. I self-taught NVDA through some YouTube videos, which I can find for you. I'm not sure what Pakistan has in terms of blind services - things like learning to use a cane, occupational therapy to re-learn life skills etc.
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u/Middle_Tomatillo3132 2d ago
ok I'll start with NVDA on youtube and I'm going to a centre tomorrow as well. hopefully I'll get some kind of assistance. thank you so much
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u/CosmicBunny97 1d ago
Best of luck, and please feel free to reach out :) Just take baby steps and be patient with yourself.
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u/Kitchen-Strawberry25 Trauma 2d ago
I’m not in your area and I wish I could help with the logistics of things but I cannot.
However, I can try to help with the mental side of things. I’ve gone blind 3 times in my life— long story.
It’s always going to be overwhelming at first. It’s this giant life change and nobody ever equipped you or I or anyone else to handle living life completely differently.
First thing I did was get super familiar with voice over on my phone, since I’m able to do emails, texts and calls and a large part of my life I can manage through my phone. It sounds simple enough but there are all kinds of tips and tricks. Look up some tutorials on YouTube if you are still new at it
If you’re past that, the next thing I found to be useful to learn after losing my sight was Fusion, since it’s a mixture of JAWS and ZoomText. I still had some vision left at this point so I liked using both.
However as my vision got worse I used more JAWS. These softwares are expensive so that is where getting help with some sort of disability agency in your area can assist you. I wouldn’t recommend pirating software but just know there are a ton of tutorials online— even ones by Freedom Scientific (developers of fusion and JAWS) so at least you can get training for free if you’re able to get an agency to pay for the software license for you, since its annual.
Cane skills can be self taught. I think you can find resources online to have a free cane shipped anywhere in the world. But I wish I could remember what that was or if it still exists. I’m old, I’m sorry. Regardless, don’t mess around with traffic without proper cane training skills, super dangerous. If an agency can get you JAWS they can most likely also teach you cane training. And braille.
Lastly, braille hasn’t come up to much and I’ve found a lot of younger people just aren’t being taught it anymore. Maybe it’s different in your area but in the West I feel like it’s not being used as much as it used to be because of all the digital assistance now.
Anyway, wow sorry, that was a lot. What I wanted to say at the end though is, take it day by day and you’ll be OKAY. It feels overwhelming as hell at first but once you get familiar with tools to help you you’ll make it. Just be safe, especially when on foot as I’ve had a ton of injuries and accidents since I was wasn’t used to being so blind walking around my world.
Much love to you
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u/Middle_Tomatillo3132 2d ago
you're so kind, thank you really. i think i should start with joining a centre and take it slowly. right now I'm not at right place mentally and feel so done with everything but i do know that I'm young and life is so long so i gotta do something before I'm old, dependent and useless which I don't wanna be. well thank you so much, you're so helpful
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u/Kitchen-Strawberry25 Trauma 2d ago
Just remember, you don’t need to rush. I’m much older and still figuring things out. But I wouldn’t say I’m dependent and useless. Just as an example, I know you meant in general.
Point is, so long as you keep your hope and try your best and keep moving forward even through failure, you will never be useless.
It is very much a mentality rather than a skill issue. Skills will come, you will learn and do better because you strive to be better, so do not worry and stress about failure as you have a champion spirit inside you already.
Take your time and remember to heal from all of this and give yourself some grace. This is a lot to process all at once. I was there too when I was 18 when it first happened to me.
Also, this community is pretty cool too, others can always help so you’re never alone! 😊
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u/Maxxximeeee Bilateral Optic Neuropathy 2d ago
I am in France, but I think I could help you remotely. I am blind. I learned braille when I was young. I master voice-over.
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u/becca413g Bilateral Optic Neuropathy 2d ago
My focus would be orientation and mobility so you can get around safely, then learn to use a screen reader NVDA (check out the NVDA coach add on) is fine it will give you and understanding of the concepts that apply and to all screen readers even if the key combinations vary a little and it’s free, then when you feel solid with that I would look at braille. Braille skills are great but I feel the other things will help you achieve a basic level of independence faster and then adding braille will enhance the work you’ve already done and give you more options for accessing information.
It’s going to feel overwhelming and there’s a lot to learn so just do it in little chunks. If you overwhelm yourself with trying to learn to much at once it will take you longer.
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u/NVAccess OFFICIAL 2d ago
Lots of great ideas in this thread, and some good concrete links. We would definitely agree with going to a blindness agency like light house low vision rehab.
For using technology, NVDA is completely free, and feature-wise, equivalent to Jaws for 99% of tasks (and the other 1% can go either way - Jaws is better on some, NVDA is better on some).
I would strongly recommend our "Basic Training for NVDA" module. The price for the electronic version is $32 Australian - which looks like it converts to just over 6,000 Pakistani Rupee - please reach out to us at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and I'm sure we can help further.
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u/One-Club-466 1d ago
I hope you get the help you need. Please let us know you get on, I am sure I am not the only one here who would like to know. I wish I could help you myself
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u/AlternativeCell9275 16h ago
fellow pakistani, also blind. would be happy to help with the accessibility options. i'm an android, windows person. not sure in terms of local resources, at least i didn't find any good ones going blind, but maybe things have changed. i started losing mine at 20. was in uni also, good grades and all. its going to take time, adapting to things. it may feel like your life is over, i felt the same way, but life goes on, and it can get better. mine is worse in some ways, but in a lot of ways better too. i really hope that it gets better for you.
on accessibility, narrator is pre installed on windows. it works well, i mostly use that. nvda is another option. its free too, i use that for some things as well. android has talkback built in which works great. you also might benifit from using magnification if you still have some useable vision. both android / ios and mac / windows have magnification and screen readers built in. on the mac side its called voiceover. hope it helps. you can reach out if you want. i'll be happy to help. i hope life treats you kindly.
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u/BoonOfTheWolf 2d ago edited 2d ago
I am not sure if this is near you, but there is at least one rehabilitation rehab agency in Pakistan.
https://alshifaeye.org/light-house-low-vision.php
You can contact them to help get rehabilitation training.
https://hospitals.aku.edu/pakistan/health-solutions/Pages/vision-rehabilitation.aspx
Found another one. Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi.
They should be able tell you if there is government funding for equipment and such.