Cognitive and Reading Profiles of Gifted Students with Learning Disabilities: Implications for Assessment and Identification
= 83). Gifted classification was based on National Association for Gifted Children guidelines issued in 2018, using reasoning-based WISC-VIndices (FSIQ, GAI, EGAI, NVI, VECI ≥ 120), while learning disability was determined through formal multidisciplinary diagnosis. Cognitive performance was assessed with the WISC-V and reading with the standardized DADA battery (decoding, fluency, and comprehension). One-way ANOVAs and ROC analyses were conducted. GLD students demonstrated reasoning abilities and processing speed abilities comparable to gifted peers, but working memory deficits compared to gifted peers. In reading, GLD students showed decoding deficits like dyslexic peers and fluency impairments indistinguishable from them, yet significantly stronger comprehension. These findings reveal a differentiated literacy profile in which higher-order reasoning appears to support meaning construction despite persistent efficiency-based constraints in decoding and fluency. Overall, the results indicate that twice-exceptionality reflects a structurally uneven cognitive-academic configuration, underscoring the importance of multidimensional assessment approaches that simultaneously evaluate reasoning strengths and reading-specific vulnerabilities.
Authors
- Athina Voulgari
- Susana Padeliadu
Institutions
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Behavioral Sciences
- Published
- 2026-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16040599
- Primary Topic
- Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki