Fayez Hasbini used to hate school.
The 15-year-old Waterdown District High School student — he turns 16 in November — talks openly about the many challenges that he faces, and his determination to turn things around.
Fayez is autistic and he has cerebral palsy and ADHD; he also suffers from severe anxiety. He says although he passed Grade 9, his marks were so bad, he almost gave up, and even thought about taking his own life.
Now in Grade 11, Fayez excels at math and science, and his marks for most of his subjects are in the high 80s and low 90s. He says he hopes to go to college and then university—something that wasn’t in the cards just a few years ago.
“I realized that if I wanted to be successful in life I had to do my work and when I get stuck on it I have to ask the teachers for help,” he explained. “So I changed and now I’m very proud of myself.”
Fayez was non-verbal until about the age of five; he took IBI therapy and says he got help for many of his challenges. He still has some trouble with stimming (self-stimulating behaviours) and hates loud sounds. Big emotions can lead to meltdowns — something else he continues to work on.
“I’m almost like a normal kid, honestly,” he says. “I couldn’t talk until the age of five — I had problems with communication — and I overcame those challenges.”
Outside of class, he enjoys watching TV and video games, eating snacks and working out. He also gets involved in many school activities, including the plant club, computer club and robotics club, and is thinking about learning chess and trying out for that.
He also volunteers to help at numerous events around the school, such as showing people where to go on parent/teacher night or at football games. He’s also in the Interact club, helps clean up at drama club, and volunteered at Ribfest. He’s already completed his 40-hour volunteer requirement.
Fayez says the long-range plan is to apply to college, then university. His dream is to become a mobile app developer, and design a computer chip that will enable his twin sister, Dana, to communicate.
“She has severe autism and she cannot talk,” he explains. “She’s missing out on some things like going to college and university and I feel very bad and I want to help her to achieve what she wants to achieve. So I’m going to make a chip for her so she can maybe go to college. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s something I hope to do.”
He also says if he is financially successful, he plans to help people in the community who are struggling.
“I’m planning in the future to help homeless people, to give them food, to give them a place to stay, because if I’m going to work on being rich and I’m successful I can help a lot of homeless people and give a lot of money to charity,” he said.
To reach those goals, he is focusing on coding classes, math and sciences — he enjoys chemistry, physics and biology. He’s also taking construction this year, and automotive class next year.
He says some things are still difficult for him, but his work ethic gets him through, along with amazing support from those around him, including his sisters (one of whom is studying computer engineering at University of Toronto), his teachers and his parents.
“My dad is really supportive of me, my mom is really supportive of me. I have the best parents ever,” he said. “They are awesome; they are so awesome. I couldn’t ask for any better parents, actually. They care about me, they love me, they take care of me. They are the best parents ever.”
For those who face any kind of challenges, he has some advice.
“If you want to achieve in life, you have to actually do the work. You cannot be sitting on your phone expecting the work to do itself. That never happens,” he says.
“It's crazy to think that five years ago, or four years ago, I was not wanting to do work, But now I completely changed my perspective. I didn’t think I’d ever make it to college or university but look at me now, I’m expecting to go to college. Man, a lot can change. And no matter what you do in high school … you’re not alone and we all have problems which we can overcome.”
