By Dave Paone
Campus News
All through middle and high schools, Benjamin Strauss of Oceanside, Long Island, never had a problem with his report cards.
(He is pictured above, left, with brother Joshua Strauss.)
“Academic-wise, it was very good. I got pretty good grades; I was very happy,” he told Campus News.
However, there was one problem.
“But I would get picked on a lot for having a learning difference.”
“He’s on the spectrum,” his mother, Amy, told Campus News. Additionally, Benjamin had social issues, anxiety and a speech impairment.
Amy had been working as a third-grade special education teacher in Queens when Benjamin was born in 2003.
He played junior varsity football in high school for two years, as a defensive end, and certainly looks the part. But he got bullied by some of his own teammates.
“It was a mix,” he said. “A lot of them treated me pretty bad, but I had a couple of friends on the team.”
Benjamin found the coaches to be nearly as bad as the bullies.
“They weren’t that nice,” he said. “They were very arrogant.”
Amy and her husband, Adam, had a second son, Joshua, in 2006. He, too, has a disability.
Joshua has a speech impairment which Amy noticed when he was two or three years old. “He was more aggressive back then. Also, he had sensory issues,” she said.
“He didn’t like people touching him. If you were in his space, he would hit you,” Amy said, but added, “He’s not like that anymore.”
All through elementary school the brothers were in mainstream classrooms but used the resource rooms and had speech therapy.
In middle school they were in integrated co-teaching classes (which is a class with both special needs students and non-disabled students with two teachers, one a special ed) and in ninth grade Benjamin was in a special ed class.
It may appear that a college career for people such as the Strauss brothers would be nearly impossible. Colleges just aren’t set up with the resources to accommodate students with extensive learning differences.
But Beacon College in Florida is.
Its mission statement says the school “uniquely serves the educational needs of students with Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and other Learning Differences.”
And this is where Benjamin attends college.
He just started his junior year as a business management major and hopes to work in social media for sports teams. He’s already had an internship at Fistbump Media in Florida doing just that.
The Strausses found Beacon through an internet search for colleges specifically for special needs students.
Amy’s sister has a learning disability so Amy was familiar with Landmark College in Vermont, which their parents thought was a good fit for her sister.
But the Strausses were looking during COVID and Landmark wasn’t having in-person tours.
“This one came up online and it looked very good,” Benjamin said about Beacon, which was still having in-person tours. They took a trip to Florida and explored the campus.
At sleep-away colleges, students have roommates. Although Benjamin has social issues, they haven’t been too much of a problem.
Benjamin feels having a roommate, along with the whole atmosphere of the college, has helped him improve his social issues.
Part of that atmosphere is small classes, with a maximum of 15 students. There’s a writing center for help with research papers.
“Teachers are always free to talk if you need help with anything,” Benjamin said. Plus there are counselors on hand.
He’s working towards a BA and is on two sports teams at the college. “The kids are much nicer than high school,” he said about his teammates.
Benjamin’s parents are happy with Beacon. “We feel he is getting a fine education both in the classroom and socially,” Adam told Campus News. “He’s got the confidence he lacked in high school.”
It wasn’t until middle school that Joshua was put in smaller classes, which helped him get better grades and improve his social issues.
Joshua has just begun his senior year of high school. He’s played baseball in three, separate leagues, including one specifically for players with disabilities.
Joshua plans to attend Alfred State College in Upstate New York as a construction management major. He explicitly wanted a “2+2” program, which is two years of on-site construction building a house, followed by two years of studying management.
Only two SUNY schools offer that, Delhi and Alfred.
Joshua has gotten a jump on learning trade skills (installing drywall, carpentry) by attending Barry Tech BOCES in Westbury.
Although Alfred isn’t a college specifically for students with learning differences, Adam isn’t worried.
“Alfred is not an overly competitive school which is good for him,” Adam said. “When shopping the school, we did spend time with the help center that can help him with his studies; it’s up to him to go and take advantage of the resources available to him.”
Whether it’s at Beacon or Alfred, the Strauss brothers have the opportunity to succeed in college. How well they do is up to them.
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