When UF junior Adreenah Wynn came to college, she registered with the Disability Resource Center to be prepared if she got sick.
The 21-year-old has sickle cell disease, a blood disorder that can cause frequent infections and severe pain.
Now Wynn is a resident assistant of the new Cypress Hall, which houses a new location for the DRC.
UF Student Government and the DRC hosted an open house at Cypress on Wednesday. Although Cypress holds part of the DRC on the first floor, some facilities are still next door in Reid Hall.
"It’s like an extension of the original DRC, and I think that’s great," said Wynn, a graphic design and art-plus-technology student.
UF created another space for the DRC because it was getting too crowded in Reid, said Zeel Patel, a student staff member for the Dean of Students Office.
"We want to make this the best experience for students here at the University of Florida," the 21-year-old said.
Currently, 1,700 students use the DRC’s facilities, Patel said.
The new facilities include testing rooms, a computer lab and two learning specialists, who help students design their courses in a way that fits their needs, she said.
The learning specialists can make students with learning disabilities full-time, even if they are taking fewer than 12 credits, Patel said. Textbooks can be converted to a larger font or audio and braille if needed. Rooms can be created for students needing testing accommodations.
"For some disabilities, say a student needs to talk out loud, we have a quiet room (in Cypress)," Patel said.
To help students with physical disabilities, some bathrooms in Cypress’s DRC have lifts for students with wheelchairs to maneuver on and off the toilet.
Cypress also houses seven students with physical disabilities. One is currently using the lift system, said Tara Scruggs, a learning specialist at the DRC.
These students also received an iPad that controls the door, blinds and lights to their bedrooms, Patel said.
UF is among few schools to offer such housing on campus, Scruggs said.
"We are the only school in the South that offers these resources," she said. "The closest school that serves this range would be Illinois."
Cypress is also offering support-group services to DRC students in an effort to have students help students, Wynn said.
She meets with her support group to work with other students like her, she said.
"It’s nice that this hall was built for the purpose of helping people — that’s why I wanted to be an RA at Cypress," Wynn said.
Rick Nelson (right), 57, advisor and educational training specialist at the Disability Resource Center, explains the functions of testing rooms to visitors during the DRC open house event at Cypress Hall Aug. 26, 2015.
