Perhaps it is a transitional problem, that's best case scenario. If I continue to work with him at home, hopefully it will click. I also wonder how much the teacher emphasizes organization while solving a problem. He'll have a new math teacher next year which should help clarify how big the problem is. Sometimes I am also irritated at the lack of space that is available for him to solve problems on daily work/tests, but that is something that he will continue to experience and needs to learn how to deal with.
It's entirely possible that there's something going on with him, though I doubt it is dyslexia due to his excellent spelling ability. His fine motor and gross motor abilities are well below average. The handwriting doesn't seem to be as much of an issue with text, writing numbers correctly and lining things up seems to be more of an issue. He also spaces out sometimes, but it also capable of being engrossed in a task if it's interesting to him.
In terms of verbal ability, he reads well (3 grades above level) and scores around 90th percentile on most achievement tests. So lower than math/nonverbal, but it's not a huge discrepancy. His writing ability is also good, he scored in the advanced range on his most recent state testing.
I feel like his verbal expression is significantly worse than that, but of course that is not something that is tested. He's in a gifted magnet program, and it is obvious to me that the other kids are far better at expressing themselves than he is. I haven't been too worried about it as he does grow in that area every year.
I don't know if that tells you anything. I don't feel like anything I've mentioned fits enough diagnostic criteria for anything I'm aware of. His biggest weaknesses are verbal expression, fine motor skills and neatness/organization. Strengths are memory, math and spatial abilities. He loves drawing things in sketchup (3D modeling program) and is quite good at competitive mental math.
