"the fallacy of most attempts to understand a problem that many gifted scientists, mathematicians, artists, and yes, even writers and poets face. It is also the locus of the major sex difference in abilities. The problem is erroneously labeled a discrepancy between verbal and spatial abilities, which it is not.
The key is not verbal ability, but fluency in retrieving words, particularly on the basis of their sound patterns, or fluidity in assembling novel utterances. On the spatial side, it is the ability to generate and manipulate gestalten or whole patterns, usually of a fairly concrete sort, but in a fluid and flexible way.
Abstract reasoning abilities are essential; superior skill in remembering images or sounds or numbers that is devoid of reasoning ability is the hallmark of the savant. On the other hand, I do believe that achievement tests—with their heavy emphasis on specific language abilities and mathematical calculation abilities—do miss children who can be among our most creative thinkers. The human toll is also substantial. As Churchill put it, "It is not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the very beginning of the race"
Sometimes, though, I wonder what life would be like had my education given as much attention to the development of my visual-spatial abilities as to my verbal abilities.