Ethan Phillip, 12, has overcome asthma, allergies and a fractured knee cap. He has a memory deficit and is dyslexic, according to his mother, Deborah Thompson.

“He forgets. It’s been difficult to teach him the times tables. Spelling has been a problem for him. … The numbers will get confused,” Thompson said.

Ethan works hard to keep up at Apollo Middle School in Hollywood. It’s even harder, he said, without a computer at home.

“A laptop would be easier. I could actually get my work. I could search out what I need for my projects,” Ethan said. “I grew up with disabilities. I try to bring up my grades. I’m already a grade behind. I’m in sixth, but I should be in seventh. In the first grade they held me back because I couldn’t read.”

Since then, Ethan’s skills have greatly improved. “My reading is much, much better. I have a really high vocabulary, they say.”

Thompson, a 47-year-old divorced mother, works hard to support her family. She has two older daughters, Alexandra, 21, and Laura, 19; and a granddaughter, Alexa, 2. Alexandra is expecting a second child. They all temporarily live together in a one-bedroom apartment in Davie, Thompson said.

“My daughters were away at school, then they returned home,” she said. “The place we were living in was sold and I had to move. I had to downsize when they moved out. Then they returned. There we are.”

Thompson, a registered nurse, said she was laid off in June from her job at a Liberty City community health center. She recently went to work as Miami-Dade Public Schools nurse.

“It’s been expensive to bring up children. One of the hardest things about bringing up children when you’re working is finding someone to take care of them,” she said.

Thompson worries a lot about Ethan, who is allergic to grass, cats, dogs, peanuts, soy and milk.

He described what it’s like living with asthma: “Sometimes I feel like I’m choking. It’s really hard for me to breathe. I had to go to the hospital last month. The doctor said I was dying because my right lung wasn’t getting enough oxygen.”

Ethan said he has friends at school, but he doesn’t “tell them about his life.”

His mother sees his potential.

“He’s very social,” she said. “He likes to be around people. Unfortunately, he’s had a few injuries. He fell off his bike and fractured his knee cap. He spent several months in a cast on his left leg. The he fell again and injured the other one,” she said.

“What was discovered with the injuries is that he has a slight scoliosis. … He has one leg longer than the other. That could be the reason why when he tries to do activities, he falls and gets injured. He’s still cheerful. He wants to do a lot.”