At 30 years of age, Brandon G. has a simple goal: to remain vital, employed, and productive. Growing up near Riverside, California, he had poor vision, which didn’t bother him until he was 15 and noticed that he had trouble seeing in dark movie theaters and at night.
As he got older, he could still see well enough to drive and to work. For the past four years, he’s worked for Parker Hannifin, a major aerospace manufacturing company, in assembly and testing for numerous aircraft, including fighter jets and Apache helicopters. Sometimes Brandon must use a magnifying lens to read serial numbers on parts, but that is the only accommodation he says he currently needs.
In early 2025, his peripheral vision worsened. An eye doctor at University of California, Irvine (UCI) determined that Brandon had retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a genetic eye disease that can lead to a gradual decline in vision, starting with night blindness and eventually causing tunnel vision.
“It was a surprise and a shock,” Brandon says. “My eyes aren’t so bad yet. My vision has degraded so gradually that I’ve been able to adapt. I haven’t had issues at work, and I enjoy my job a lot.”
Brandon is married, and he’s been told that there’s no telling how fast his retinitis pigmentosa will progress. He wants to be proactive, so he can be ready if it worsens and he no longer can work in aerospace. “I went through a bad depression after I found out about the diagnosis,” he says. “I can’t stand the thought of being a burden to my wife.”
His doctor at UCI recommended that he visit Braille Institute, and he initially met with an intake specialist who recommended accessibility features for his cell phone and signed him up for orientation and mobility (O&M) training. Brandon and his wife are regulars at Disneyland, but he recently found that he was bumping into people and has also been tripping, so he hopes that using a white cane will signal others to give him extra space.
Recently, Brandon spoke remotely with Salvador Quintana, a full-time instructor at Braille Institute who is visually impaired. “Hearing from Salvador that he had lost his sight when he was 15 made me feel blessed,” Brandon says. “I’ve gotten to live at least to 30 with my eyesight. When he told me that some people with RP don’t lose their eyesight until their 70s, it gave me hope.
“Talking to Salvador was almost therapeutic,” Brandon says. “He’s the only other person I’ve ever talked to that has RP. Talking with someone with the same issue felt good. I know I’m not alone in the world.”
Brandon says that he is looking forward to starting O&M training and hopes to join a support group at Braille Institute. “I want to make sure I’m set up,” he says. “I don’t want to wait until I can’t see. I want to get the ball rolling.”
