A SURVEY OF IDENTIFYING SYMPTOMS OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES OF GIFTED CHILDREN

The purpose of this study is to identify the sypmtoms of learning difficulties in gifted students and compare these symptoms with of the normal IQ students. The study was conducted among 110 students, of whom 30 is gifted and 80 has normal IQ, and they attend a prive primary school in Ýstanbul, where differentiated education is provided. For the purpose of study WISC-R IQ test, Thurstonescale’s Primary Abilities Test, Learning difficulties symptom list and demographic data form were used. During the study the teachers identified hyperactivity and attention disorders both among in gifted and normal IQ students as the most common problematic areas. Only visual perception, auditory perception, arithmetical ability, orientation ability, ordering ability and verbalization ability scores as the sub-symptom areas of learning difficulty had statistically significant difference in comparison with the IQ variable. The difference between verbal and performance scores of WISC-R test of the gifted students was not significant in determining learning difficulties. It is worth mentioning that there was not a significant difference between students who had under or above 15 points score difference in the verbal and performance tests.