This paediatrician-mother's chronicle of her son's journey through various schools and psychological institutions is as thrilling as any novel: six-year-old Mark, attending school for the first time, seems a perfectly normal child - curious, funny, attentive.

However, after a few weeks at school, he becomes problematic. He can't sit still and is disruptive during lessons. Exasperated teachers sit him at the back of the classroom.

Mark grows ever more aggressive while his performance deteriorates further - at the age of seven he can barely read.

At first, psychological tests suspect hyperactivity and he is sent to a clinic for psychosomatic cases. He becomes increasingly isolated, turning almost suicidal. His desperate mother takes him out of school and begins home-teaching.

Against all expectations, he learns quickly and thoroughly.

Further tests reveal he is mathematically highly-gifted, though suffering from Dyslexia (a variant frequently found amongst the mathematically-gifted). He is subsequently registered for a highly-gifted children's school and is doing well to date.

He has forgotten many things about those dark days.

But not everything.

About the author:

University professor Dr. Daniela Zaknun was born in 1958 in Innsbruck, Austria.

After completing her medical studies she went on to practise at several university hospitals.

She is a Fellow of Harvard University, with research stays in the USA, Israel and Italy.

She has many scientific publications to her credit and is a member of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children.

Daniela Zaknun lives in Vienna where as well as running her own surgery is also a well-respected paediatrician at the Vienna University Clinic for Children.