  There has been a significant amount of debate around gender differences in
intellectual functioning, however, most of this research concerns typically
developing populations and lacks research into atypically developing
populations and those with specific learning disabilities (SLD). To address
this, we examined performance on the WISC-IV in children with SLDs (N=1238, N
female= 539, Age range = 7-16 years). We further divided the sample into those
with specific deficits in reading, mathematics, and those with mixed disorder.
Results indicate that gender predicts significant differences in the working
memory index and processing speed index only, indicating a small but
significant female superiority. Results also show different profiles for the
different disorders investigated, with some gender differences emerging. The
most prominent gender difference appears to be in the coding subtest indicating
a female advantage, particularly in those with SLDs with mathematical
difficulties. We discuss the theoretical and clinical implications of the
findings.
