Learning disability is an important school and social problem, being one of the principal causes of the children referred for psychological evaluation. The purpose of this study was to investigate cognitive abilities from children and teenagers with learning disabilities. Data were gathered from 263 children and adolescents from public schools evaluated with WISC-III. The sample was constituted of students from 6 to 16 years old (median=9) with higher incidence in boys (69,2%). Problems in the reading and deficit of attention had been identified as the most common factors in the studied group. Information, Similarities, Arithmetic, Digit Span, Coding and Picture Arrangement were the lowest subtests characterizing ACIDAS profile. The general intelligence mean scores was considered as borderline. The results evidenced a discrepancy between verbal (Verbal IQ=82) and performance reasoning (Performance IQ=80). According to the literature about learning disabilities, it was expected that VIQ<PIQ.
Learning disability; Intelligence; WISC-III
