Abstract:

The topic of Specific Learning Disorders in young adults and, in particular, in university students, is a recent research area, but less explored than in the age of development. Several studies have analyzed the characteristics of Specific Learning Disorders in adulthood, confirming the persistence of difficulties even in this age group (Shaywitz et al., 1999; Hatcher, et al., 2002).

The persistence of difficulties and the lack of early recognition and support at the educational level, very often, can have consequences not only from an emotional-motivational point of view, but also on training and employment choices. The aim of this work is to contribute not only to the knowledge of the characteristics of Specific Learning Disorders in adulthood, but to underline the importance of targeted interventions to be implemented during the university course, to guarantee academic success. For this purpose, in the present research, the performance profile was analyzed, in the tests that evaluate the skills of reading, writing, calculation and comprehension, built ad hoc for this age group (Montesano, Valenti e Cornoldi, in press) and in verbal working memory tasks of a group of students with Specific Learning Disorders. Furthermore, we wanted to evaluate the coping strategies that learners with Specific Learning Disorders put in place to cope with a stressful event, as well as a university exam, in relation to the level of anxiety experienced by students in study situations and the ability to face particularly demanding situations, through the "Anxiety and Resilience" questionnaire (AMOS, De Beni et al., 2014). The performances of the experimental group were compared in all the tests with those of a control group made up of university students without learning difficulties. The experimental group consisted of 20 students (average age22, DS = 2.14) with Specific Learning Disorder Diagnosis, while the control group consisted of 20 university students with typical development (average age 22.37 DS =1.95).

From the comparison between groups, carried out by the test t di Student for independent samples, significant differences emerge between the experimental group and the control group in the reading, writing and calculation tests and in verbal working memory tasks, confirming the results present in the national and international literature (Hatcher et al., 2002; Re et al., 2011; Cornoldi et al., 2015). Moreover, among the data that emerged from our analyzes, one is surprising, and is not reflected in the national literature (Bindelli et al., 2008; Re et al., 2011;2011; Cornoldi e De Carli, 2015), it concerns the ability to understand the text. The sample of students with Specific Learning Disorders was clearly characterized also by the difficulty of comprehension. Result that will be investigated, given its peculiarity compared to the literature. Regarding coping strategies, there are no statistically significant differences between the two groups, the same is also observed for the "Anxiety and Resilience" questionnaire, although the experimental group reports higher levels of anxiety. In addition, significant relationships emerged between the coping strategies most aimed at solving the problem and the resilience characteristics of the subjects. Finally, the avoidant coping style and social support, correlate significantly with the presence of internalizing disorders.

Keywords:

Specific Learning Disorders, University students, Dyslexia.