My dd has NLD also. Have you read "NLD From the Inside Out", by Michael Brian Murphy? It might be a good one for your son to read. The author has NLD and the book is from his graduate thesis. I have read a lot about NLD since my dd was diagnosed and don't claim to be an expert or anything so please take this with a grain of salt. It does not sound like he is getting enough in the way of accommodations to me, just longer test taking times. It is my understanding that most kids with NLD would need more. But my dd is seven so we are a long way from Algebra. Is it possible that too much is being asked of your son and that is why he has given up? He really can't succeed?

What of you looked for an online game type program? Could she use headphones? Sometimes it is helpful to take myself our of the equation when things are getting frustrating. Good luck!

Not sure what level you are looking for, but my kids have liked Beverly Cleary, the Betsy Tacy books, The Doll People series, and the Ivy and Bean books. They also liked the Mrs Piggle Wiggle books, though there is some spanking and bullying in some of the stories. I don't know what kind of library you have, but you might want to ask there. Our children's librarians are really good with questions like this.

You also might want to check out Ronit Bird's Dyscalculia Resource Book.

Are you talking about worksheets where he is adding instead of subtracting or vice versa? If it is just that he isn't catching or attending to the plus or minus sign you could try having him read it out loud before answering. That way he is seeing it, saying it and hearing it. It helps us with that particular mistake.

What I have read is that is mostly a problem with abstract thinking that causes problems with higher mathematics.

The thing about NLD, and I see this very clearly with my child, is that she does not process visual information easily. She doesn't learn by observation. She needs verbal explanations. Things kids pick up by watching others, she misses. She can understand if she has a verbal explanation. She doesn't miss everything visually, but a lot of it goes right by her. So if she had a hearing loss on top of it, well that would be really frustrating and difficult for her. She also doesn't generalize information from one setting to the next very well. She is very into language and has a huge vocabulary. if she hears a word she doesn't know she wants the definition. Homonyms fascinate her, word play of any kind really. Puns are big fun lol. There are people with NLD who do well with math but that would be an exception, a small minority I think. Because rote memorization is usually a strength that is how they often get through math, memorizing the rules and steps of solving a problem, without really understanding why they work.

My seven year old was diagnosed with NLD. My understanding is that sometimes the poor math skills do not become apparent until Algebra. NLD is different for every child as far as in what areas they are affected and to what degree. For example, they can often have gross motor problems, but my dd does not have that. The biggest indicator is if there is a discrepancy between performance and verbal IQ. My dd's math skills are average and her language skills in the superior range. So it is this huge discrepancy not that she has extremely poor math skills.