The authors explore the reasons for a child's failure from a range of disciplines. Topics covered include social influences as well as emotional, physical and psychological factors. Almost all of us underfunction at one time or another, in our health, at home, in school, in our work or in all these and other areas as well. Since childhood is the period during which we develop most rapidly, it is likely that underfunctioning is especially prevalent in children. Afraid, bored, confused and underfunctioning mentally, socially and physically, they fall short, and their failure is sometimes not even noticed. This book, by an international team of experts in the field, is a rare search for answers to the question why and how children fail.