Low vision male(26) looking for advice on moving to Seattle. (Pacific: apartment, for rent)

[anotherrandomperson]

Sorry for yet another moving to Seattle post and maybe this in in the wrong place, but I figure the worst that can happen is no one responds.

I've been reading threads for awhile now on moving to Seattle and they've been helpful and have made Seattle seem like a great place to live. But I've been trying to figure out how to get out of my current situation. I've come up with a few ideas, but I'm unsure on which one I should go with or if there even good. What I'm hoping is someone here can provide me with some advice or suggestions on what I should do. What I know so far about moving to Seattle. It seems to have good public transportation; I should probably have a job lined up before I move; and I will need at least $1400-$1500 a month for rent if I want to live alone.

A little about me I'm a 26 male with low vision 20/100 uncorrected 20/80 corrected and I live in East Texas. The problem with this is because of my vision I can't drive and the city I live in has poor public transportation so holding/looking for a job becomes a lot harder. If I walk or ride my bike to an interview/work by the time I get there I'm covered in sweat. And the taxis here are slow and not very reliable. I have an associate degree in computer maintenance, but I feel like that was a waste of time and I should have went to college for computer networking or computer science even though I don't like programming.

Here are the ideas I have at the moment, but I'm not sure If they are achievable/any good.

1) Go to college again I guess for computer science in either the Seattle area or UT Tyler. The problem with this is the only way I could pay for it would be student loans and grants. And I'm not sure If I would be able to receive enough to cover it all. Also if I did choose to go to college in the Seattle area would it be better to move there and work retail or something until I was able to get in state tuition?

2) Settle and give up on going back to school try to find any job in Seattle where I could afford to live a half way decent life. And if I'm lucky with promotion opportunities and dealing with technology. I figure if I can't have a career maybe a least I can live in a city where I'm able to go the places I want without having to depend on someone for a ride.

At this point in my life I just feel stuck and overwhelmed and I'm not sure what I need to do to move forward. So any advice or suggestion will be much appreciated, and sorry that the post was so long.

[Hemlock140]

You have a good chance of renting a place close enough to work to get their easily on public transportation, but I would suggest any schooling be finished there first, or move here and work long enough to become a resident. The college costs for non-residents will definitely cramp your finances. The University of Washington for example, runs $11,000 for residents, $41,000 for non-residents. You have to be here a year for purposes other than education before being considered a resident.

[anotherrandomperson]

Thanks for the reply. Looking at the cost some more of different schools. I definitely shouldn't move to Seattle and go to college right away. So I guess if go the college route I need to make up my mind on either living in WA for a year at least then going to college or picking a TX one to go to. If I go with the living in WA option I figure getting a job with me being out of state will be a very difficult task especially with the amount of job experience I have.

[poopskooper]

You also may want to consider one of the community colleges. North Seattle CC in particular has a good CS department (click) as well as good specialized IT programs (click) from what I hear.

The tuition will be less than trying to enroll immediately in a full-fledged university program (Seattle has several well regarded computer science degree programs not only at the University of Washington but also at Seattle Pacific and Seattle University) but you'll still have to meet residency requirements for the best tuition rates. However, even at non-resident rates, a CC will be substantially less expensive than enrolling full-time at one of the university degree programs. You may also be able to take a lighter course load at a CC and work part time.

Bus service is good around NSCC.

Best of luck.

[anotherrandomperson]

Thanks I'll read up on those schools

[PigeonCoup77]

Hey there,

My best friend of many years here is legally blind, so perhaps I can shed some insight into the area for a low-vision person.

I wouldn't say the Seattle area is particularly well-suited, nor poorly suited to low-vision needs. The bus system is, as people have said, fairly extensive. There are occasional chirping crosswalks, but not enough to rely on (as is the case in most places). Still and all, the public transportation will be an improvement over Texas.

You can certainly score an apartment for less than $1400. Hell, you could find a small house/cottage in many places for less than that.

When using the term "legally blind", however, I've never seen more people look at her with utter confusion than around here. They then follow with a barrage of questions about what that means, what she can & can't see, etc. Pretty invasive and ill-mannered, if you ask me. That's like meeting a paralyzed person, and instantly asking them about how much leg function they have. No tact whatsoever...

Perhaps it's just a regional thing (neither of us are from here originally), but that doesn't bode well for employment, either. No place in this country has a very high rate of employment for the disabled, and again, here is neither better nor worse. But there does seem to be a fair amount of jobs available, overall - especially in tech.

If you have some money saved up to pad you for a while, you may well do alright. The climate here will be far less likely to leave you drenched in sweat, at least.

[Inkpoe]

OP, are you legally blind? You should check if by TX laws whether you are considered legally blind. One great thing about Texas is that any of the Deaf and/or Blind residents can go to public colleges/universities for free. You can use this to your advantage: get schooling/degree and move here afterwards.

[anotherrandomperson]

Thanks again for the replies and suggestions everybody.
@PigeonCoup77 I know exactly what your talking about when you mention the barrage of questions your friends gets. My eyes kinda shake since I have nystagmus. And for as long as I can remember people have been asking me. Since your eyes shake is everything moving back and forth right now? Or they hold up their hand about a foot from my face and ask me how many fingers. It use to bug me when I was in school since I got questions like that several times a day. Now I just figure it's people trying to get a better understanding of what I see and take it as a positive although it can get bothersome. My favorite still is I went to watch my college roommate drag race and his dad ask me if I could see the cars and I was about 10 feet from the track. I just told him my vision sucks, but a cars pretty hard to miss.

@Inkpoe I'm not legally blind (20/200) although my brother is so that's good to know. I have 20/80 with glasses and we both have ocular albinism and nystagmus. I get along fine for the most part, but I do have trouble with things like small print, reading at a distance, but for the most part I just work around it.

[PigeonCoup77]

Hey anotherrandomperson,

My friend also has nystagmus, and perhaps that is part of the problem she's been encountering. I see first-hand how frustrating it can be, and I'm sorry it's something you both have had to deal with.

I only just now noticed that you mentioned biking, and actually, that is an area where Seattle really shines. We're 2nd only to Portland, OR for biking (probably only because of how hilly Seattle can be). If you have enough vision to bike safely, there's plenty of bike lanes and ways around.

If you have any other questions about the area, feel free to send me a direct message.

[west seattle gal]

Do not take option 2. There is no reason to settle. Additionally, it is unwise to move to a new (expensive!) city without any real career plans or desirable job lined up. If you ultimately decide to move here in order to gain in-state tuition, make sure you have the job lined up first (as you know). Also, have solid career and college plans prior to the move. Otherwise, you may put yourself in a very desperate, vulnerable position.

Option 1 sounds like a good choice. If you don't know what to do with your life and feel stuck, college is a great choice. You are still young and single. You just need more info about your career and financial aid options. Maybe you need more info about a programming career, or perhaps there is some other career option you have never considered. Look at the practical reasons for choosing an occupation ($, low vision accomodations, etc...), but also consider your heart. What do you really want to do?

Talk to a career counselor. You could start here to ask for advice and/or a referral:

DRS Guide for VR Applicants
Independent Living Services
http://www.dars.state.tx.us/dbs/index.shtml

Info about occupations & employment trends:

Explore Occupations and Careers - CareerOneStop
Careers and Career Information - CareerOneStop

Talk directly to your college choices about financial aid. A financial aid officer can give you a lot more info. Generally, if you are independent and in a degree program, you will receive enough financial aid to cover tuition and expenses. In-state tuition is lower, so perhaps with a Texan college if you decide on an academic program of study. You may be able to live on or near campus, negating the need for a car. However, there may be other colleges in the US that have grants for or experience with disabled students, including thise with low vision. There are scholarships for visually impaired students, but a financial aid counselor may have the best info:

http://www.schoolsoup.com/scholarshi...ally-impaired/
http://www.disabled-world.com/disabi.../scholarships/
http://m.ssd.umich.edu/article/counc...national-cclvi

Call your local community colleges. They may offer free career counseling or provide referrals. Discuss your dilemma about computer maintenance vs science. They will give you info even if you ultimately do not attend that community college. Maybe you would ultimately be better suited as a teacher or computer instructor/administrator for low-vision clients, who knows:

http://education.illinoisstate.edu/vision/scholarships/
http://www.tsbvi.edu/how-do-i-become-a-vi-professional

Look through this booklet:

http://www.blindness.org/pdf/careerbook.pdf

Join a low-vision support group to find out what others in your situation have done:
http://www.earsforeyes.info/ears/tbl...9&psearchtype=
http://www.earsforeyes.info/index.ph...rt_Groups.html
http://www.albinism.org/aoc.html

Finally, apparently at least 25 states allow people with low vision to drive:

http://www.afb.org/section.aspx?sect...26&topicid=144

And finally-finally, U.Houston does low-vision rehab:

http://www.opt.uh.edu/uei/services/l...-lowvision.cfm