This study aimed to characterize and compare the performance of students from public schools with and without learning difficulties in phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading, and writing. A total of 60 students from 2nd to 4th grades were divided into six groups: three groups of students without learning difficulties and three groups with learning difficulties. The study used assessments of rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, oral reading, and writing under dictation. The results showed that students without learning difficulties performed better in all areas. Students with learning difficulties had higher speed-to-time ratios in rapid naming tasks, but performed worse in phonological awareness, reading, and writing. These findings suggest that students with learning difficulties have deficits in the relationship between naming and automatization skills, lexical access, visual discrimination, stimulus frequency use, and competition for code naming, which are necessary for the phoneme-grapheme conversion process required in reading and writing. The study concluded that students with learning difficulties showed lower performance in phonological awareness, reading, and writing compared to those without learning difficulties. The findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention for students with learning difficulties, as well as the need for formal teaching of spelling and encouragement of reading in the educational context. The study also emphasizes the importance of understanding the profile of students with learning difficulties to avoid misdiagnosis and its consequences.This study aimed to characterize and compare the performance of students from public schools with and without learning difficulties in phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading, and writing. A total of 60 students from 2nd to 4th grades were divided into six groups: three groups of students without learning difficulties and three groups with learning difficulties. The study used assessments of rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, oral reading, and writing under dictation. The results showed that students without learning difficulties performed better in all areas. Students with learning difficulties had higher speed-to-time ratios in rapid naming tasks, but performed worse in phonological awareness, reading, and writing. These findings suggest that students with learning difficulties have deficits in the relationship between naming and automatization skills, lexical access, visual discrimination, stimulus frequency use, and competition for code naming, which are necessary for the phoneme-grapheme conversion process required in reading and writing. The study concluded that students with learning difficulties showed lower performance in phonological awareness, reading, and writing compared to those without learning difficulties. The findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention for students with learning difficulties, as well as the need for formal teaching of spelling and encouragement of reading in the educational context. The study also emphasizes the importance of understanding the profile of students with learning difficulties to avoid misdiagnosis and its consequences.