University students with specific learning disabilities

In recent years, there has been a growing enrolment of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in Italian higher-education programmes, underscoring the need for universities to support these students by identifying their strengths and weaknesses and developing targeted interventions. However, literature focusing on university students with SLDs remains limited. This study aims to describe the profiles of a sample of first-year Italian university students with SLDs, examining aspects such as instrumental skills, neuropsychological profiles and study-related abilities. Our results confirm that instrumental skills in students with SLDs are statistically lower than the normative average, indicating that difficulties in reading and arithmetic seem to persist into adulthood in students with SLDs. Additionally, a detailed neuropsychological assessment reveals significantly lower verbal working memory among students with SLDs, but statistically significant higher scores in visuospatial abilities. Furthermore, the results show that students with SLDs rate lower on learning approach scales