Proof           

                          All those who oppose the idea of AD/HD or any psychological condition for that matter need to do, is to just place doubt into the minds of the general population. They could and do say there is no scientific evidence to prove that AD/HD exists. They may call AD/HD poor parenting. These opposers can be assisted by the general media who give publicity to the their claims. The general media will do so, on most occasions without presenting any evidence that AD/HD exists or that it does not. The media do not usually consult medical professionals for their opinion so that their views may be presented at the same time. Like all seeds of doubt some bear fruit, which has certainly been in the case in regard to AD/HD. All of this has quite possibly has been fueled by the fact that stimulants are given to children. This caused the following document to be written.

The International Consensus on ADHD January 2002. This document is signed by some 36 well renowned researchers; it lists well over 300 research papers. It is highly doubtful that so many well-known people with reputations to uphold, would state a disorder exists if it did not. Let alone those who have plowed millions of dollars into research into AD/HD, would do so, if the disorder did not exist. This document was produced due to the fact that those who signed were concerned, in regard to the inaccurate information about AD/HD, which was being generally published. One of the reasons given was that it might cause some with AD/HD not to seek treatment. Click on the following link to be taken to the Consensus document."Consus Document"

The previous should be sufficient evidence to prove that AD/HD is indeed a true disorder and not simply due to poor parenting as some like to say.  

However a couple of abstracts from the research papers are following. Both of which point to physical differences between those with AD/HD and those without.

Quantitative morphology of the caudate nucleus in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. FX Castellanox, JN Giedd, P Eckburg, WL Marsh, AC Vaituzis, D Kaysen, SD Hamburger and JL Rapoport. The American Jounal of Psychiatry 1994; 151:1791-1796

In the above study it was found that the total brain volume was 5% smaller in the AD/HD boys and the mean right caudate volume was slightly but significantly smaller in the AD/HD boys than that of the comparison subjects

and,

Quantitative morphology of the corpus callosum in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. JN Giedd, FX CAstellanox, BJ Casey, P Kozuch, AC King, SD Hamburger and JL Rapoport. Am J Psychiatry 1994; 151:665-669

In the above study it was found that two anterior regions were found to have significantly smaller areas in the AD/HD group. This supported the theory of abnormal frontal lobe development and function in AD/HD.

If you are interested in viewing more scientific papers you could try: hhp://scholar.google.com" and go the "advanced search option" (right top of the screen) which will give a screen with fields you can complete in order to find specific papers you are interested in. Just try the word attention and that will start you off.

                

The Differences

                          However some researches have been reporting over the past six or seven years, that those with high levels of inattention have a different problem. For example it has been found that there are different neuroanatomical systems involved in the different subtypes of AD/HD. In a thorough review of research it was reported in 2001 that AD/HD-I and AD/HD-C are two separate and distinct disorders. (Milich Richard et al). Whether the symptoms listed as criteria for these disorders or their naming in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) will change in the future is not known.

Richard Milich, Amy C. Balentine, Donald R. Lynam (2001) ADHD Combined Type and ADHD Predominantly Inattentive Type Are Distinct and Unrelated Disorders Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 8 (4), 463–488.