Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is the most common neuropsychological disorder in childhood and adolescence, affecting the basic psychological processes involved in learning, social adaptation and affective adjustment. From previous research, the disorder is linked to problems in different areas of development, with deficiencies in psychological processes leading to the development of the most common characteristics of the disorder such as inattention, excess of activity and lack of inhibitory control. As for the diagnosis, in spite of being a very frequent disorder, there are multiple controversies about which tools are the most suitable for evaluation. One of the most widespread tools in the professional field is behavior inventories such as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires for Parents and Teachers or the ADHD Rating Scale-V. The main disadvantage of these assessment tools is that they do not provide an objective observation. For this reason, there are different studies focused on recording objective measures of the subjects’ movement, since hyperkinesia is one of the most characteristic symptoms of this disorder. In this sense, we have developed an application that, using a Kinect device, is capable of measuring the movement of the different parts of the body of up to six subjects in the classroom, being a natural context for the student. The main objective of this work is twofold, on the one hand, to investigate whether there are correlations between excessive movement and high scores in the inventories for the diagnosis of ADHD, Rating Scale-V and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and, on the other hand, to determine which sections of the body present the most significant mobility in subjects diagnosed with ADHD. Results show that the control group, composed of neurotypical subjects, presents less kinaesthetic activity than the clinical group diagnosed with ADHD. This indicates that the experimental group presents one of the main characteristics of the disorder. In addition, results also show that practically all the measured body parts present significant differences, being higher in the clinical group, highlighting the head as the joint with the highest effect size.

The term Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has a long history of problems behind it. The origin of all these problems lies in the lack of agreement in the assessment procedures and evaluation instruments. The diagnosis is clinical and is determined by the observation and information provided by parents and teachers. So, this is highly subjective and leads to disparate results. Therefore, on the one hand the inaccuracy of the diagnosis of ADHD, which has been based on subjective criteria, together with the fact that hyperactivity is one of the main symptoms of this disorder, implies that several studies (with limitations) have been carried out to record objective measures of movement in subjects in at least the last ten years. In order to solve some of this derived problems and limitations of previous studies, a computer program has been developed to objectively record the amount of movement of subjects. The main objective of this study is threefold: first to register the amount of movement of both experimental group and control group, then to compare them with the movement registered by observers and finally to determine the validity of the software developed as a tool to support the diagnosis of ADHD. Results show that there are significant differences in the amount of objective movement between a clinical group of subjects with ADHD and a control group, obtaining a higher average of movement the experimental group. In addition, results also demonstrate that the developed software is a valid tool for the evaluation of movement that solves the limitations of previous studies. The proposed tool is developed from different aspects to give it a multidisciplinary character.

For this study, 148 students were recruited, and they consisted of two experimental groups and one control group. Both experimental groups were instructed in the development of conceptual maps using the CmapTools software, while the students in the control group freely chose which study strategies they would use to acquire the knowledge that would be evaluated. The difference between the two experimental groups was that one of the experimental groups followed the guidelines of a cooperative activity, developing a conceptual map in work teams (4 students to each team) using CmapCloud, while in the other experimental group, each student developed the contents of a conceptual map in CmapTools on an individual level. The objective was to detect whether there would be any statistically significant differences between the three groups at the level of academic performance. For this purpose, the same sample was tested by means of the same type of knowledge acquisition test. The data obtained reveal that the scores are higher in the experimental groups than in the control group, and in turn, the experimental group that included cooperative work obtained a better level of performance than the experimental group that worked at the individual level. Therefore, we conclude that simple modifications in the pedagogical strategy (introducing an effective learning strategy and cooperative work), would significantly improve the teaching-learning process and, consequently, would significantly improve the average performance of the students.

DETECTING LEARNING DIFFICULTIES AND INVOLVEMENT OF FAMILIES IN THE INTERVENTIONThe academic difficulties do not appear suddenly but they are developed throughout all the process of education-learning. From the first passages of a child, differences in the level of progress of their different capacities begin to occur and although in the majority of the cases the individuals compensate these aptitudinales deficits during their development, is observed a large number of cases in which these difficulties prevent them from acquiring, in a time considered like reasonable, certain fundamental initial learning’s in the construction of the rest of knowledge. We consider that a preventive action serious would be one that detects the problem before it appears like so, and facilitates to apply preventive measures that correct possible difficulties. These measures, in most cases do not reach their highest level of effectiveness if it does not work in all of the student system. Therefore, at this point, should be initiated cooperative work between teachers and families, which will enhance the joint efforts for the benefit of the intervention with students. To do this, from the schools promote the continuing education of mothers and fathers from the beginning of schooling of their children, thus obtaining a higher level involvement of families in the educational community to which they belong and involving them in what it is a common training task.Keywords: learning difficulties, deficits aptitude, strategies for prevention, integrate training.Resumen.Partimos de la certeza de que las dificultades académicas no aparecen de repente, sino que se van gestando a lo largo de todo el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Desde los primeros pasos de un niño, empiezan a darse diferencias en el nivel de progreso de sus distintas capacidades y aunque en la mayoría de los casos los individuos compensan estos déficits aptitudinales durante su desarrollo, se observa un número elevado de casos en los que estas dificultades les impide adquirir, en un tiempo estimado como razonable, ciertos aprendizajes iniciales, fundamentales en la construcción del resto de conocimientos. Asumimos que una acción preventiva sería aquella que detecte el problema antes de que se presente como tal, y facilite la aplicación de medidas que subsanen posibles dificultades. Estas medidas, en la mayoría de los casos, no alcanzan su mayor nivel de efectividad si no se trabajan en la totalidad del sistema del alumno. Por tanto, en este punto, debe iniciarse un trabajo cooperativo entre docentes y familias, que potenciará el aunar esfuerzos en beneficio de la intervención con el alumnado. Para ello, desde los centros educativos promovemos la formación continua de madres y padres desde el inicio de la escolarización de sus hijos, obteniendo así un nivel más elevado de implicación de las familias en la comunidad educativa a la que pertenecen y haciéndoles partícipes de lo que es una tarea formativa común.Palabras clave: dificultades de aprendizaje, déficits aptitudinales, estrategias de prevención, formación integral.