Olive Hickmott is a Forensic Health and Learning Coach and author of The Elephants in the Classroom. Drawing on her lived experience of dyslexia and ADHD, she created Empowering Learning to help neurodivergent students harness their strengths in mental imagery. She is also the architect of the New Perspectives series.
Olive Hickmott is a Forensic Health and Learning Coach. A reformed Dyslexic and ADHDer, she created Empowering Learning to enable highly creative, imaginative, neurodivergent students to learn most effectively for them, that is, typically through their strengths of mental imagery. She is the architect of the New Perspectives series of personal development books and author of The Elephants in the Classroom, Bridges to Success, Seeing Spells Achieving, You too can ‘do’ Health, Recover your energy.
Empowering Learning has trained an international network of practitioners based on the Visual Pedagogy and Curriculum for Visual Thinkers, which now incorporates the Early Years.
The Empowering Learning Techniques are built on research from observations, modelling, and neuroscience to offer parents, teachers, and children simple processes to follow that will dramatically improve spelling, reading, handwriting, comprehension and concentration. You are welcome to call me for a complimentary chat about your requirements, join one of our free group coaching calls, or schedule one-on-one coaching.
Contact Details
Telephone: 07970-854388
Website: www.empoweringlearning.co.uk
The learning platform: https://www.visualkids.co.uk
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OliveHickmott
Skype: olivehickmott
Twitter: www.twitter.com/olivehickmott
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/olivehickmott
Facebook: www.facebook.com/olive.hickmott and www.facebook.com/empoweringlearning
Blog: www.olivehickmott.co.uk
✨ Inspiring voices for International Dysgraphia Awareness Day ✨
Maria Chivers
11th October 2025
Dr. David, Edward Cowell, and Maria L. M. Chivers wrote the first definition of dysgraphia in the World in 2008 to help people understand it.
As more research was published during the next ten years, we updated it in 2019 to reflect our understanding.
‘Dysgraphia means having severe problems with handwriting, which is associated with extreme difficulty with fine motor skills and problems with the speed of processing – despite having a normal intellectual ability.’
by Dr David Edward Cowell & Maria Chivers *2019 ©
*Updated from 2008
In 2008, Dr David Edward Cowell and I, Mrs Maria Chivers, recognised the urgent need for a clear, practical definition of dysgraphia to support those working with children facing handwriting difficulties.
At that time, despite growing awareness of the challenges some children experienced with writing, there was no universally accepted or practical definition of dysgraphia to help people with dysgraphia. Drawing on our combined experience—and after working closely with many affected children and consulting with teachers and other professionals—we created what we believe was the first working definition of dysgraphia.
Dr Cowell, whose academic and professional background is exceptional—holding a BSc, MPhil, and PhD, and being a Chartered Psychologist and Life Member of the Royal Society of Medicine—brought deep insight and expertise to our collaboration.
In 2019, a decade after we first shared our definition, we updated it to reflect further research and developments in the field. Since then, understanding of dysgraphia has continued to grow, and many knowledgeable professionals have contributed valuable perspectives of their own. Of course, definitions vary, and each brings something important to the conversation.
We’re proud to have laid an early foundation, and we are grateful to those who have expanded on it. We continue to value and learn from the collective wisdom of the wider community working to support individuals with dysgraphia.
© 2025 Maria L M Chivers &
Dr David Edward Cowell, BSc,. MPhil, PhD.
Chartered Psychologist
Life Member of the Royal Society of Medicine.
The first “Dysgraphia Awareness Day” in the World was held on Monday, 3rd October, 2022. an event by Maria Chivers of the “Dyslexia A2Z” and helped by her friend and mentor, Dr David Cowell.
We registered our day in July 2022 and had a successful day and made many new contacts on our Facebook pages for Dysgraphia Awareness and Dysgraphia Support Group for Parents UK. We have several people from other countries who wish to be involved next year.
I am already working on next year’s programme, which will be on Monday, 2 October 2023.
If you have any suggestions or ideas or if you wish to participate, please get in touch with me.
Author and researcher, Raising Awareness of all aspects of Neurodiversity, including Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Visual Stress & other Learning Difficulties.
Email: [email protected].
Maria Chivers & Dr David E Cowell – 2022
www.dyslexiaa2z.com
Exclusively Designed for us is this Dysgraphia Enamel Awareness Badge.
To purchase, please go to eBay.
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