Age: 45
Born with congenital cataracts 4/12/1980, had them removed at 3 months of age. Wore 32 strength glasses as a baby. I did a lot of things autistic kids did like echolalia, stemming, and not recognizing facial expressions but people chalked it up to the visual impairment.
At age 10, seeking contacts, I was given my first eye pressure test and promptly diagnosed with glaucoma and given drops. At age 12 got into contacts which immensely helped with reducing bullying because I looked normal with thin glasses.
At age 19 had surgery to try to get rid of some of the rest of the remaining lens material that had gone opaque (the material was disrupting my vision; I was seeing halos around bright
objects). I had a great ophthalmologist but my mental health spiraled worrying about the very slight chance of losing my vision.
At age 20, August 20, 2000 was the beginning of the end of being able to be in contacts. The glaucoma drops I needed to keep my pressures in line had dried out my eyes so I couldn’t wear them anymore. This struck right in the middle of college when I needed to look my best and I became a social pariah.
The beginning of 2001 things started getting bad, I was now having eye pain due to dry eye and none of the medications we were trying made it go away. I was also going to college full time and working part time so I was exerting a lot with my eyes. Right after graduating college in 2002 I had a Trabectome surgery and later a shot to the eye to try to make it stay open. It closed up. In November 2003 I had a shunt and two shots into the shunt and it closed up too. I had a great team of ophthalmologists which is probably why I still have my vision today.
Unfortunately all this took too great of a toll on my mental health, six months after the first failed surgery I was hypomanic. Six months after the second one I went psychotically manic and was never allowed to live on my own again.
Thankfully my eyes have stabilized. Not much pain and good pressures. My disabilities switched places so now my primary disability is bipolar 1.
I know people reading things like this are looking for hope and a success story and mine is not that. I have never had a girlfriend. I see just well enough not to drive. I have never had a full time job. I have two part time jobs because I can’t get a full time one. What I would say is if you have aphakia and no other disabilities you are probably going to be fine. It’s when you add neurodivergence and bipolar to the mix that things add up to more than the sum of their parts.