I love the words children use to describe their situation. And it's great that you're trying to honor what he's saying even when you don't understand it. A potential good source for learning spelling for a learner like him could be a game like Rummy Roots (found here: http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Hearts-Rummy-Roots/dp/B000GTBCBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348809337&sr=8-1&keywords=greek+and+latin+roots+rummy) or something along the line of Greek and Latin roots. It shows the parts from the whole more clearly for them. When my builder son used it at around 11, he said, "Why didn't you tell me words were like LEGO?" So, I've experienced the sayings from children...

I know this special needs board has a particular bent toward seeing disability, but oh boy, do I see a right-brained child in your son with your description here! They love to learn; hate to be taught. They can be very resistant because they learn in a particular way, which is different from traditional school ways, and the only way to communicate is through resistance. I wrote a post about that here: http://applestars.homeschooljournal.net/life-without-school-posts/resistance-a-communication-tool/. As for their pinpointing his weakness for short-term memory, that is typical for a right-brained learner. Left-brained learners have stronger short-term memory, thus better at memorization techniques, and right-brained learners have stronger long-term memory, thus learn better by association. Because he has strengths in puzzles and math, it's typical to see the more common time frame of between 8 and 10 for reading to occur for a right-brained learner. In other words, math facts and reading usually start between 8 and 10, but you can find one of those happen during the 5 to 7 time frame, but I've rarely seen both happen. The gift usually lies in one or the other, and the other is just "normal" and comes at the typical time of 8 to 10. Right-brained children are highly emotive and highly sensitive. They take things very personally. They are the first ones to turn on themselves. And they are usually heavily involved in one or more of the creative outlets: music/dance, computers/video games (both your son), art/photography, theater/showmanship, fashion/sewing, math/numbers, puzzles/mazes (also both your son), cooking/gardening, and building/electronics. As for your son's inability to remember certain words, a lot of the ones you listed are non-visual words. Right-brained children turn every word into a picture, so they will more easily read "encyclopedia" over "the," because he can visualize a picture for encyclopedia. I just wrote a post about the universal gifts of the right-brained learner that might interest you, where I give a link to Chapter Five in my book that you can read that describes these universal gifts that you may recognize in your son. It's here: http://www.therightsideofnormal.com/2012/09/27/am-i-right-brained-dominant/. These children are misunderstood in how they learn, but when you figure it out, they are joyful learners who thrive. Here's a post about their natural development: http://www.therightsideofnormal.com/2012/04/16/the-natural-learning-development-for-right-brained-children/. I hope something helps...