Difficulties in Diagnosing Cerebral Palsy

Developmental disorders like cerebral palsy are hard to diagnose. Younger children have a higher capacity to heal, and there are many children who fully recover from developmental problems caused by brain injury.
Additionally, early diagnoses of cerebral palsy are difficult to make because it’s hard to differentiate between the signs of CP and the normal reflexes of a developing child. It’s also harder to detect CP in children whose condition is mild because very young children and those with CP both lack motor control and coordination. Therefore, observing the development of the child’s motor skills is the first step toward making a diagnosis.
Common reasons why cerebral palsy is hard to diagnose include:
It may take years for clear signs to appear
Many children with brain damage make a recovery
Levels of severity vary greatly
Signs of CP resemble other disorders
Paying close attention to a child’s delays in motor control is important to rule out any other disorders that look like cerebral palsy in the first months of life. For example, transient dystonia (irregular flexing of the torso) often occurs in prematurely born babies. Infants with transient dystonia have movement issues very similar to infants with CP, but transient dystonia can be corrected after one year of age.

Doctors are usually hesitant to make a diagnosis of cerebral palsy because it shares many symptoms with other conditions. Doctors try to avoid putting more stress on the parent until they are absolutely sure the problem is cerebral palsy.