Thanks to user14111, who suggested I post on BookSleuth Forum, where I received the following answer from Lee W. Kuivinen: It's "Problem Child" by Arthur Porges. It's in 10TH ANNUAL EDITION: THE YEAR'S BEST S-F edited by Judith Merril (1965).
He entered the study, and walked to the desk. The top sheet lay there, mocking him—but what was this? The last equation was crossed out, and above it there was a long line of pencil marks. Almost like mathematical symbols, but not—by God, upside down!
Bewildered, he reversed the sheet. For a moment the writing still seemed without content, then Kadar felt his heart contract like a clenched fist. A new integral transform—powerful, elegant, and startlingly original. It would crack the tough kernel of the problem as lightning shatters an oak.
He looked up, wild-eyed. Paul met his gaze squarely. The slender throat was working; the lips moved.
"Like that . . . it has to be like that. Other way . . . the pattern is ugly," the boy mumbled, his voice a queer, high-pitched stammer, as if he had to claw the words out of a diaphragm never before used.
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