J. COTTER HIRSCHBERG<br > In this preface I shall try to answer several questions that may be in the<br > reader s mind. Why would a book need to be written about the many<br > aspects of a comprehensive treatment process which are so crucial in help-<br > ing a neurologically handicapped and developmentally delayed individ-<br > ual? Partly it is because the medical profession is now able to "save"<br >children with birth difficulties who formerly would have died， children<br > with severe infectious illnesses who formerly would not have survived<br >their high fevers， and children damaged by accidents. Consequently， the<br >actual number of children and adolescents with a variety of neurological<br >difficulties has increased. Owing to the complex， sometimes vague， subtle<br >problems in adjustment and in learning which these children have， there<br >are many gaps in understanding how to help them. Basically， the task of<br >helping centers on the development of an integrated personality that<br >achieves its optimal capacity for growth.<br > Robin was just entering adolescence at the time of her evaluation and<br >the beginning of treatment; the interactions of primary (organic) and sec-<br >ondary (reactive) problems with which she was struggling had brought<br >about not only maturational gaps and imbalances but difficulties in emo-<br >tional modulation and control， organic deficits in orientation and percep-<br >tual interpretation， continual variation in the interaction of the cognitive-<br >motor-affective functions， as well as secondary problems in reaction to the<br >ridicule， exclusion， and rejection by peers and others. In coming to a total<br >understanding of this adolescent girl， it was necessary to look at all the<br >aspects of her equipment and development. To focus on the central defi-<br >cit was only a beginning. There may be and often are many additional，<br >though more ordinary， factors in vulnerability--some of them specific<br >and remediable and some of them diffuse and persistent. It is a matter not<br >