Darth Gator is in his second year at the University of Florida. His day usually begins at about 7 a.m. He leaves his room and walks to class. After listening to the lecture for a couple of minutes, he falls asleep and starts drooling. Occasionally he farts, yet, his disruptions are often ignored.
It's not because of his charm, his friendliness or his easygoing personality. It's not because he is well-groomed or walks barefoot either. It's because Darth Gator is a dog. The black Labrador is a guide dog for Jarod Westaway, a blind, second-year print journalism major at UF. Moving to the University of Florida from Lady Lake, FL, meant a change of environment for both Jarod and Darth Gator. Jarod has never had full vision, and he has only had Darth for a little over a year. He has retinitis pigmentosa. According to Foundation Fighting Blindness Web site, retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an eye disease in which there is damage to the retina. The damage progresses over time. People with this condition have problems with night vision and peripheral vision. An estimated 1 in 4,000 people in the U.S. have RP, mainly caused by mutated genes inherited from one or both parents. "At first I was not attached to Darth, but now I am," Jarod said. "It's still awkward because I have to trust my life and safety in a dog." The week before classes started in fall 2006, Jarod met with a mobility specialist to show him how to navigate around campus, and he became familiar with locations of important buildings. He has special equipment that helps him read certain books. He uses OpenBook, a program developed my Freedom Scientific, to scan and convert printed documents into an electronic format. He also uses audio books so he can follow along as he hears the texts being read. Besides meeting with the mobility specialist, Jarod has taken advantage of other resources the at University of Florida. The Dean of Students Office Disability Resource Center provides quality services to students with physical, learning, sensory or psychological disabilities. According to Susan Swiderski, a learning specialist at the Disability Resource Center, there are approximately 2,000 students registered with the DRC. A major challenge facing blind students at universities is the overwhelming mass of printed material and the increasing volume of visual material, which they must access in alternative ways. Swiderski said that the 4,400-square-foot facility offers students a computer lab and large, mid-size and private testing rooms, which feature sound-attenuation and closed-circuit video monitoring. The DRC offers a combination of methods for assisting blind and visually impaired students including readers, note-takers, books changed to audiotape or electronic format, Braille books, taped lectures, and alternative testing methods. However, the DRC has a huge push for funding for the information technology lab. "We've just upgraded Kurzweil, a supporting reading, writing and study skills solution for students with special needs, from version four to nine," Swiderski said. Also, the Disability Resource Center is closed on weekends. For Jarod and many of the other blind students on campus, this is an inconvenience. "The Disability Resource Center is the only other place I can do my assignments with the programs I use, and they are closed on weekends," Jarod said. "If my computer stopped working during that time, I don't know how I would complete my assignments." However, Jarod thinks that the University of Florida has done a good job assisting blind and visually impaired students with their transitions to college. Now Jarod and Darth are familiar with the UF campus. Many of the students at UF are familiar with the pair, but do not know how to act around Darth.
Jarod said that people often whistle at and pet Darth without permission.
"It gives Darth mixed signals because he is working," Jarod said. "It could be dangerous to me if Darth is not paying attention." Other than that, Jarod has no complaints. He embraces his disability and participates in some of the activities that any student with vision would. He is a die-hard Gators fan and goes to every game he can get tickets to. "There's nothing I can do about it," Jarod explained. "Who's to say that in my life they won't come out with something to fix my vision. Eventually, with technology, experts can do more." Last semester Jarod took Writing for Mass Communications with Meredith Cochie. "It was a pleasure having Jarod in my class," Meredith said. "His logistics are different, but he's just like any other college dude." | 
