Diagnosing ADHD can be difficult because of its various presentations among patients. Read here for an explanation of the problem. Parents usually seek professional help after repeated problems with the child's classmates and teachers. Diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is difficult.
Some children can display marked inattention and impulsivity without hyperactivity.
Other children are inappropriately inattentive but are not hyperactive or impulsive. Physicians can fail to diagnose children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder because they often behave normally in the quiet physician's office where there are no distractions to trigger symptoms. Parents should not be shy about insisting on further evaluation if their experience does not match a doctor' s single observation of their child. This is particularly important now, because under managed care the cost of pursuing a diagnosis is not always covered. The physician will first require a detailed history of the child's behavior.