When Ashley was 10, he rented an airplane and let her “fly” her first plane. Nothing made her happier than flying in that airplane — except perhaps seeing the joy in her father’s eyes over her excitement. Now, at age 18, Ashley is well on her way to obtaining her own private pilot’s license.

Clinically diagnosed with dyslexia by a neurologist when she was nine years old, Ashley began using RFB&D’s recorded materials in fifth grade. However, as with many high achievers who have a learning disability, some of Ashley’s teachers opposed this accommodation because her grades were so high. By the time Ashley was in eighth grade, the Strac family had obtained a court order outlining all of Ashley’s necessary accommodations. Now she’s a senior at Shawnee High School, where teachers are very attuned to her educational needs.

“I can actually comprehend what I’ve read when I listen to RFB&D’s recorded textbooks and follow along in the text. Now I can talk about books in class discussions with my classmates,” says Ashley. “I liked my middle school English classes so much that I got in trouble for going ahead. After being behind in everything for so long, it’s all I wanted to do.

“Flying has given me a feeling of freedom,” she says. “I’ve been behind my whole life. Though it sounds selfish, I finally can do something that other people can’t,” adds Ashley, who flies at speeds of 101 miles per hour and altitudes of 4,000 feet. Flying may be her true love, but it’s not her only activity. Ashley is involved as a spirit week choreographer at Shawnee High School, where she is an honor-roll student. She is also a black belt in karate, a mentor for students with Down syndrome and a volunteer at her local hospital. Ashley spends her summers working at a local marina.

It is no surprise that Ashley wants to pursue a degree in aviation science using RFB&D’s recorded textbooks as she aspires to be a commercial pilot, just like her father.

“I can actually comprehend what I’ve read
when I listen to RFB&D’s recorded textbooks.”

Brandon Scott is a “typical” 17-year-old scholar-athlete at Red Bank Regional High in New Jersey.

He has a bookcase decorated with numerous wrestling honors, including one engraved “2002 District Champion Wrestler” and more awards that hang on the wall of the home he shares with his mother and brother. He’s a typical student — who happens to have been blind since he was two years old due to a form of cancer known as retinoblastoma.

“For me, wrestling has provided a stepping stone,” says Brandon, who first tried wrestling in third grade. “Once I became good at wrestling, people stopped looking at what I couldn’t do and focused on what else I could do.”Brandon credits his physical strength and sense of touch as the keys to his 2002 wrestling record of 28-4, which earned him an award from his school for “Most Individual Wins.” “If an opponent is going to shoot for my legs, I can get out of the way because I can feel the move coming,” he says. He notes that his proudest moment was when he became a district wrestling champion. His wrestling prowess has even led him to appear on local and national television news.

However, this young man’s strengths do not stop at the wrestling mat. Brandon is a member of the National Honor Society and the French National Honor Society. “If it weren’t for RFB&D and the way its textbooks are organized, I wouldn’t be able to take such high-level courses,” says Brandon, who has been using RFB&D’s recorded textbooks for nearly five years. As a high school senior, he will be in Advanced Placement French and English classes, and Honors US History. Brandon and a fellow classmate were chosen to fly to Wisconsin, courtesy of the Red Bank Lions Club, to attend a seminar on world peace. He received the Shore Wrestling Officials’ “Courage, Determination and Perseverance in the Sport of Wrestling” award and the NAACP Youth Achievement Award. At the ceremony, he met Bruce Springsteen, who also received an award from the association.

Additionally, Brandon has spoken on behalf of RFB&D before the New Jersey State Legislature.He is aiming to wrestle in Division III at The College of NJ, where he plans to major in social services and minor in psychology. In the future, he hopes to work with troubled children.

“If it weren’t for RFB&D ...
I wouldn’t be able to take such high-level courses.”

For previous profiles, see: Success Stories - Archives

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