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Briggs said she has a white cane to
help her, but she usually doesn't need
it during the day.
"People just assume things some
times or they don't ask questions,"
she said. "That's probably the biggest
issue."
Briggs, who will be a resident assis
tant next year, said being active in the
residence halls has allowed her to
show others that students with visual
impairments can lead normal lives.
"The dorms are an amazing thing,"
she said. "I've gotten really involved in
the dorms and met a lot of people,
and it's given me a lot of opportuni
ties to educate people about my con
dition. A lot of people have never
been around someone with a visual
impairment."
Briggs said the University's Disabil
ity Services department has been key
to her success. She said the depart
ment allows students to hire people
to take notes, provides special testing
accommodations and helps students
work through individual issues.
"I've been really impressed with
Disability Services," she said. "I can't
give them high enough (praise)."
Sirois said Disability Services works
with between 550 and 600 students
who have a wide range of disabilities,
including learning, psychiatric, phys
ical and health conditions. She said
the department provides services
ranging from sign language inter
preters for deaf students to books on
tape for the visually impaired.
Sirois said just navigating a univer
sity can be a challenge for visually im
paired students.
"Physical access can be an issue, al
though I think at the University of
Oregon we're doing a really good job
addressing that," she said.
Sirois also said other students and
faculty members are hesitant to ask vi
sually impaired students about their
conditions.
"If a student were to have an inter
action with someone with a visual
impairment, instead of presuming
what would be helpful to them, it's
probably a good idea to ask," she said.
Briggs said the department helped
her hire an assistant for her chemistry
lab.
"I can pretty much do most of the
stuff, but there's just a couple things
that (I need help with)," she said.
"That's pretty much how it would
work in the real world, too. It's not
really about can you read this volume,
it's more about are you able to know
what to pour where than actually
pouring it."
She said adaptive technology has
also helped her in her studies. Briggs
said the electronic Blackboard Learn
ing System allows her to read lecture
notes and other course materials in
large text on her computer. Briggs also
uses a video camera with a zoom
function in math class so that she can
enlarge lecture notes written at the
front of the room.
"That helps a lot because even
though I'm visually impaired, I'm still
very much a visual learner," she said.
"I'm really thankful for the vision I
have."
She said technological advance
ments have "really opened the doors
to science for all people."
"Hopefully, with experience, I'll be
o
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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Photos by Danielle Hickey Photo Editor
Meghan Briggs uses a video camera’s zoom function to help her see lecture notes in class
Friday afternoon. Briggs is one of about 10 legally blind students at the University.
able to learn about all those adapta
tions that I can use," she said.
Chemistry Professor David Herrick,
who instructed Briggs in two classes,
said he has provided her with large
format quizzes and advance copies of
his lecture notes, which he normally
does not do.
"She's very determined and very se
rious as a student" he said. "She puts
a lot of effort into it but seems to get
through it very well."
Briggs said her career goal is to be
come a genetic counselor. As a coun
selor, Briggs said she would help fu
ture parents work through decisions
about genetic traits that might affect
their children.
"I love helping people, and I would
really like to work with people to
make decisions about their future,"
she said.
Briggs said her career goal is close to
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home because her parents, who con
sulted a genetic counselor after Briggs
was bom, wanted to find out if her
condition would be passed on if they
had another child. They learned that
there was a one in four chance that
another child would also be visually
impaired. Briggs said her parents de
cided it was an acceptable risk because
Briggs' condition "was going to affect
life, but not in a bad way."
Despite her challenges, Briggs
maintains a positive attitude about
her vision.
"My issue might have a title to it,
but I think everyone has problems
they have to ... work with," she said.
"I'm just lucky enough to have a title
to mine."
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