Choosing a major and passing midterms are among some students’ greatest worries throughout college. But for physics sophomore Justin Champagne, there’s an added challenge to pulling all-nighters and daily decision-making: retinitis pigmentosa.
According to the National Eye Institute, retinitis pigmentosa is a rare visual impairment produced by a group of inherited disorders that cause a person’s retinal cells to break down and dissipate. Medical Encyclopedia: MedlinePlus says the disorder affects one in 4,000 people in the United States.
Champagne said he was born with impaired vision, although he was not diagnosed with RP until he was about 5 or 6 years old after realizing his inability to see in a movie theater — even in lighted areas.
The diagnosis had little effect on his decision to attend LSU because he has tunnel vision. Champagne defined tunnel vision as a lack of peripheral vision.
“Other than the accommodations I get from Disability Services, there’s really nothing different,” Champagne said. “I don’t know if that’s because I have still vision or what, but I’m able to do most things that other people can do.”
Champagne’s daily challenges involve difficulty reading small print, such as on instruments in his physics lab. He also has trouble climbing stairs, which is why he navigates through campus using a cane.
These are small adjustments he’s adopted between his high school years at False River Academy in New Roads and now.
“There’s some stuff I can’t do, but there’s never a time when I’m not doing something — whether it’s whatever everyone else is doing, or some alternative,” Champagne said.
Champagne credits his professors, lab partner and LSU’s Disability Services for making his transition to college easier. Some of Champagne’s accommodations include extended time on exams through Disability Services, student note takers and access to magnifying technology — such as a closed circuit television — that make his tests and handouts more readable.
“The most challenging part is how other people see me,” Champagne said. “I get this feeling when I’m walking, and people will just get out my way, assuming I can’t see them, but I can. They’ll hold the door and say, ‘I got it,’ and I thank them because they’re doing good things, but that’s the most difficult thing — just dealing with those feelings.”
Assistant Director of Accommodation, Advocacy and Guidance at Disability Services Natasha Aymami said Champagne — who she met in spring of 2014 — is not the only visually impaired student at LSU. Currently, Disability Services accommodates two blind dog guide travelers and many others who suffer from low vision.
Aymami, a nationally certified orientation and mobility instructor and a former sign language interpreter at LSU, also counsels students with hearing loss.
“Louisiana has just about the largest deaf-blind population in the United States, in the form of what is known as Usher syndrome,” Aymami said. “People with this disease are born deaf and then go blind — it has a lot to do with the Cajun heritage.”
Aymami said she has a passion for working with the blind and visually impaired because both of her parents are deaf, and her father is visually impaired.
She said there is a need for education about these disorders because so many students report them to Disability Services without knowing how to manage or live with the conditions.
“What they know is that they can’t see. They know nothing about all of the resources that are out there for them to use,” Aymami said, which is why teaching and serving disabled students is her primary goal.
Although Disability Services is not designed to service visually-impaired faculty members, Aymami said the department shares resources with a blind LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center employee and a Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College worker.
Aymami said these resources include a braille machine and networking opportunities with Louisiana Rehabilitation Services representatives, whose jobs are to help employ people with disabilities.
“Our students with visual impairments or hearing loss, in my opinion, work harder than any other — they’re so dedicated,” Aymami said. “It’s just when they leave here, they are worried they won’t get a job, and they focus on what they can’t do rather than what they can. So why not give them that opportunity? I know plenty of deaf doctors.”
With a 98 percent unemployment rate for the visually impaired in the state, Aymami said Louisiana is not progressive enough in its use of resources and education. LSU also needs a stronger method to integrate the visually impaired into university culture, she said.
“Sign language isn’t offered [at LSU] as a foreign language, like it is at many other renowned universities, and that sets up a barrier almost for students,” Aymami said. “I would like to see something like that happen for [LSU].”
However, Champagne said one part is still missing for students like himself — the lack of lighting, especially at night.
“I don’t know how other people with full vision can see at night, but I couldn’t even go out before having this,” Champagne said, referencing his cane. “At least I can make it to LSU games, though.”

Gallery • 12 Photos

Zoe Geauthreaux

LSU physics sophomore Justin Champagne uses his walking stick as an aid for getting around on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2015, in the Student Union.