Gifted and learning-disabled: A study of strengths and weaknesses in higher-order processing

Abstract

ABSTRACTStudents who exhibit giftedness alongside a learning disability (GLD) often display asynchronous academic development, and a combination of strengths that mask areas of struggle. Early identification and intervention may offset students experiencing low self-confidence and motivation, ineffective self-efficacy, or a loss of love for learning (Reis, McGuire, & Neu, 2000). It is essential to understand the unique patterns of strengths and weaknesses that gifted students (GTs) with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) display in order to develop interventions that leverage strengths while targeting weaknesses. In this study, we compared GLDs’ performances to those of GTs and SLDs on the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Third Edition (KTEA-3). While GTs outperform GLDs and GLDs outperform the SLDs across all of the academic subtests, the analysis of the academic error scores indicate GLDs only differ from GTs for basic phonic decoding and math calculation. GLDs had fewer errors than SLDs across all error scores with the exceptions of intermediate letter-sound knowledge, basic phonic decoding, and addition. Consequently, GLDs have a unique profile of errors that indicates that their ability to decode is comparable to the SLD sample, and their error patterns in other areas suggest academic difficulties.