PROFILES OF COLLEGE-STUDENTS DEMONSTRATING LEARNING-DISABILITIES WITHAND WITHOUT GIFTEDNESS

The purpose of this study was to analyze the assessment profiles of tw o groups of adults with learning disabilities. The first group compris ed 48 adults (34 men and 14 women) demonstrating giftedness and a lear ning disability profile (G/LD). The second group of 46 adults (31 men and 15 women) demonstrated a learning disabled profile without giftedn ess (NG/LD). Both groups of participants were either attending or plan ning to attend college and sought testing at a university-affiliated l earning disabilities center. Participants' mean age was 20 years, and all were White and from middle to upper-middle class backgrounds. Find ings indicate that, as a group, the adults demonstrating a G/LD profil e tended to be identified later and have more discrepancy among cognit ive assessment profile scores than the NG/LD group. Cognitive subtest scores showed significant differences between the groups, but also sev eral areas of weakness evident in both groups regardless of the presen ce of giftedness. These findings emphasize the importance of identifyi ng the presence of learning disabilities among gifted populations.