Thanks for sharing so much more info. It sure sounds like you've done a lot of work in advocating and helping your son. He's lucky to have you!

I'm mostly concerned about the OT thing (since that's my thing!). If he's been assessed and has what you describe, then he should be a great candidate for SI based therapy and related interventions (like Therapeutic Listening and Interactive Metronome). If he is not really making progress then you might want to seek out an SI certified OT who is more knowledgeable and can provide more effective treatment. SIPT testing, as Willa pointed out, could shed some more light on the issues and help direct intervention. But the SIPT is only standardized up to the age of 8 y 11 mo, so you should look into it soon for the most valid results.

If he has core problems he is likely low muscle tone, which is going to influence how he holds a pencil. Fixing the pencil grip won't help - it will only frustrate him unless the underlying problem, the core stability and muscle tone, are addressed. Once you treat the core all the other skills just fall into place! Kids with these issues cannot meet the growing demands of higher level cognitive skills because they are expending too much energy on just sitting upright in the chair, holding the pencil and trying to figure out how to form the letters mechanically. It's exhausting to a kid - and gets worse about the age of 8 or 9, when the demands start really going up. Trust me on this one - lots of experience with kids like that. If the OT he's working with isn't getting anywhere, look for someone else who can make a difference.

Also, he's probably having difficulty because his processing speed is slower. I've read that this is common to gifted kids who tend to want to consider all the options - they take a lot longer to make decisions because they are processing ALL the options in their head. Or they are overthinking the problems, or questions. Is that what your guy does? My son's working memory was lower, relatively speaking compared to his other scores. I see how it affects him because he has a hard time holding things in his head when we talk. He does better with visual cues. My husband is the same way, can't hold on to all that verbal info.

On another listserve I heard about the kids version of the Myers-Briggs. Maybe that would help you better understand his needs related to how he processes info. I understand you can have it done through Dr. Ruf's website. www.educationaloptions.com

One other question: has he ever had a developmental vision evaluation?

I hope that the school can meet his needs, but I guess first you just have to all agree on what his needs really are. Hang in there. And keep us posted.