When Azim enrolled at our private Christian school as a sophomore, his intake paperwork hadn’t yet arrived. It wasn’t until after his family had already completed admissions that I discovered he was reading at a kindergarten level. Had I known that beforehand, he wouldn’t have been admitted. But what a blessed mistake that was.
A Rough Start with a Remarkable Name
Azim—whose name means perseverance—was adopted as a baby. Both his biological parents struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, which continued throughout the pregnancy. As a result, his learning profile was highly uneven. Some areas showed typical development, while others bore the marks of significant neurological injury. His IQ was measured in the moderately delayed range, and he exhibited classic signs of fetal alcohol syndrome: impulsivity, social misjudgments, and unpredictable behavior.
Yet from the beginning, Azim also demonstrated an unmatched work ethic. To this day, he remains the most committed student I have ever taught—and the one who made the most astonishing progress under my care.
Early Challenges: Social Misfires and Learning Gaps
Azim came to us from the same public school where I had completed my student teaching. That connection allowed me to touch base with his former teachers when we hit our first hurdle.
During his first week, Azim teased a classmate in the hallway, acting more like a third grader than a high school sophomore. At one point, he grabbed the other student’s backpack and tossed it in the air. He didn’t mean harm—just some playful aggravation—but he hadn’t accounted for a weird overhang in the hallway. The bag, loaded with school supplies (including a costly graphing calculator), got stuck behind the wall. The classmate was furious.
That incident became a turning point. From then on, I began focusing as much on Azim’s social development as on his academics.
Learning to Learn: Finding His Strengths
Despite his academic struggles, Azim had a remarkable auditory memory and a sharp mind for science. If someone read the material aloud—his parents or I—he could grasp the concepts and remember them easily, even when I didn’t fully understand the content myself!
We developed a system: I read his tests aloud in my classroom, and he gave verbal responses, which I transcribed. With this approach, he flourished in science, history, government, and economics.
Math posed a greater challenge. Azim never gained the ability to align written numbers clearly, so we pre-wrote math worksheets for him, and a student TA acted as his scribe. Even so, he could often do multi-step problems in his head. (And since the work was harder than what the TA was doing in her own class, I trust the answers were his.)
Scripture and Structure: Anchors for the Soul
Each of my classes began with a Bible verse. I would read it aloud, discuss it briefly (unless a student wanted to lead), and then pray over the class with the verse’s theme in mind. After prayer, students wrote the verse down.
Azim was still printing individual letters, carefully copying each one. But he turned in a verse every single day. I believe that daily spiritual rhythm was one of the keys to his transformation. His parents even adopted the habit at home, having him and his siblings write a verse each weekend day, too.
Military School and a Changed Young Man
At the beginning of Azim’s junior year, his parents enrolled him in a Christian military boarding school several hours away. There, he lived a life of structure and discipline for six months—and came back a changed man.
He was now getting up at 4 a.m. for exercise, followed by chores, devotions, and a long academic day that included service projects and homework. This rigorous structure, I’ve since learned, is particularly effective in helping injured brains heal. It certainly worked for him.
Finishing Strong
When Azim returned home, he was ready. He’d advanced his reading level to sixth grade and started doing early high school math. He even earned enough credits at the military school to graduate shortly after returning—on a modified transcript, but with his peers.
I have never seen a student with fetal alcohol and drug exposure make such great strides in so short a time.
If you’re homeschooling or supporting a student with learning differences, especially related to prenatal drug or alcohol exposure, please know—great progress is possible. With structure, support, and spiritual grounding, even the hardest roads can lead to transformation. I’m here to help guide you through the journey.
Also, I have Brain Based Bible verses (designed into therapy exercises) ready to write for students like Azim available for digital download on the website.