IMath that he's done since he was tiny (even super simple stuff like 6+1) he really has to think about the second a timer is involved. So there is high anxiety, and the frustration that comes from not being able to think fast enough.
Are you sure the frustration is that he has to think quickly and can't, or is it possible that the frustration is that it's difficult to get the information *out* of his head (and onto paper or into words) quickly?
I wonder how much of what we see as him "spacing out" or being not on task with assignments in class is really him looking over the sheet (and because he can read exceptionally quickly, we may not be noticing him look it over) and then spending time processing it in his head? According to all the in-class observations, he gets an assignment then spends a chunk of the allotted time not on task, the does the assignment very quickly right at the end.
This sounds VERY much like my dysgraphic ds prior to his dysgraphia diagnosis. His teacher also described his classroom behavior as "spacing out" and attributed it to not being engaged and not paying attention. When I observed him in class he would often sit and just not do any work when worksheets were handed out, then rush through it when the teacher called the "2 minute warning". I attributed a lot of that behavior initially to giftedness - because the worksheets should have been easy for him to complete (I knew he knew how to do what he was being asked to do). What I was missing was that he was challenged by handwriting.
The scores you have are consistent with the types of gaps I see in my ds' scores between VIQ and PSI, and your ds also seems to have a gap between VIQ and PRI (I am not as familiar with what that type of gap might present as).
You mentioned that this was a "full evaluation" given by the school - were there additional tests given to determine why there was a discrepancy in scores? A private evaluation by a neuropsychologist would most likely have included visual-motor integration tests and executive functioning tests etc to tease out whether or not the challenges with processing speed were due to fine motor issues, vision issues etc.
Some of this is sensory issues - the poor pencil grip, difficulty with fine motor.
While there may be a sensory component to this, these are also symptoms of dysgraphia. Did the school make recommendations re incorporating alternative methods of having your ds show his work (scribing, keyboarding etc)? Did they do any type of OT eval? Did they make any comments on handwriting such as - is his spacing even, is he spelling consistently, does he use punctuation and capitalization correctly, is he forming his letters consistently and in the way the school teaches how to form them, is his handwriting speed at grade level, etc.
He's never upset (or at least not visibly or at the time) by the fact that he's not done work neatly -- although he does occasionally become very upset by the idea of having to do assignments that do have to be done well and carefully (like a final copy of a bigger assignment), and I wonder if its an acknowledgement of his inability to do it as quickly as he can think about it. He verbally expresses it more as a resentment of homework, and of having to do something perfectly, but...
I have two children with challenges (dysgraphia, dyslexia) and another child who had severe vision issues when she was in early elementary. I think it's really important to realize there is a huge difference between how an 8 year old and adults - or even a middle school child - communicate frustration and emotion over challenges. As parents we try to interpret what's up by our children's actions and visible emotions and what they tell us, but I've found with all three of my children, at 8 years old, they simply were communicating frustrations, upset, etc in ways that I didn't really see or understand. Getting a *complete* evaluation that included a look at *why* the scores were what they were on ability and achievement testing was the key in understanding what was going on for my kids. Now that my dysgraphic ds is 13, it's a whole different world because he has several years of life experience under his belt as well as years of adults helping him through accommodations, remediation, etc so that he understands what's up. When he was 8, he didn't come to me and say "handwriting is really painful and difficult". He was quiet in school, he "spaced out", he threw tantrums over doing homework etc. It took a neuropsych eval to put the pieces together. Once we had the knowledge of what was up, we were able to learn a lot more about how our ds was feeling and processing things, but we had to know the questions to ask first.
I hope that makes sense. It sounds like your school is trying to be helpful, which is great!
Let us know if they included any more testing with the ability/achievement testing.
polarbear
