As soon as I saw the picture of this kid, I bet kids made fun of his ears. Not what made him crazy (since many kids can handle it) but just another thing part of his screwed up life.
The fetal alcohol syndrome comment you made inspired me to check out exactly what that looks like. And darn, if I didn’t find a picture that looks like it could be that boy’s baby picture: https://s3.amazonaws.com/classconnection/863/flashcards/5235863/jpg/kabuki_(4)-14BEBBAF3C720EC705C.jpg
I would post it but still learning how to do that there.
One would have thought he’d have grown his hair out to cover the big ears.