TPP 513: Understanding Dysgraphia: Beyond the Surface of Messy Handwriting, with Kelli Fetter
episode
Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
36 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 9 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is dysgraphia and how does it differ from messy handwriting?
I'm Debbie Rever, and you're listening to Full Tilt Parenting. Today we're going to be talking about dysgraphia, what it is, how it's different from general handwriting struggles, and why so many kids who are struggling with dysgraphia go unrecognized and unsupported. My guest is Kelly Fetter. She's a certified handwriting specialist and occupational therapist, and she is the founder of Handwriting Solutions, where she and her team provide specialized tutoring the students around the world. And Kelly brings a deep clinical expertise from her work across pediatric settings as well as a personal connection to this topic through her own daughter's journey with dyslexia and dysgraphia. So you're gonna hear Kelly break down the neurological underpinnings of dysgraphia, how it can show up differently from child to child, and why early recognition is so important.
We will talk about the role of assessments, how to distinguish dysgraphia from more general handwriting difficulties, and what meaningful support can actually look like in home and at school. So this was a pretty eye-opening conversation for me. I will say I didn't know. that much about dysgraphia going into it, I have a much deeper understanding and also have a sense that it is much more widely impacting our kids than we may realize. So have a listen to Kelly Fetter on Dysgraphia. Hey Kelly, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, excited to be here. Excited to explore dysgraphia with you. I just told you before, hit record that today is like the 10th anniversary of Tilt I've done. Five hundred episodes and I've never done an episode on dysgraphia.
So when you reached out to me, I thought this would be a really important conversation to explore because I know it's gotta be something a lot of our listeners are dealing with.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think even if they don't have that label or that diagnosis, I guarantee you a lot of your listeners will still relate to what we talk about and hopefully better understand their own child so that they can better support them.
Yeah. Awesome. Okay. I always like to start by just kind of getting a little more information about my guests, just so we understand your lens or your personal why for the work that you do. So would you tell us a little bit about How you got into this, because I know that you're also an occupational therapist. Like tell us a little bit about what you do in the world.
Yeah, I started out going to occupational therapy school. I knew I wanted to work with kids. That was like my lifelong passion growing up. And so when I graduated, that's what I did. And I worked in a setting that really afforded me a lot of opportunities: outpatient, early intervention, school-based practice, a variety of diagnoses, which was great starting out. And then I had my own child. child and as our kids often do, they lead us down these journeys, right? And so When I had her, I actually went down part-time in that OT job and then eventually moved over to an academic, like an adjunct professor role, again teaching pediatrics, and then she was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia. And the interesting thing about her journey is that I started seeing signs in kindergarten and the school did not.
And as an OT I couldn't quite put my finger on it because I was like It's not fine motor skills. It was nothing that my O T brain. thought, oh, well then you can help with this. So I reached out to one of our friends slash tutors at that point. And she worked with her that summer between kinder and first grade. All of a sudden first grade rolls around and then the school was like Oh my gosh, something's going on. It's an emergency. You need to seek out all of these. And I was like, ah, you know, that typical parent moment of like, okay, first of all, yes, I thought something was going on. But also, my goodness, how did we go from, well, let's just wait and see to like 911 emergency. Fortunately, we already had this rapport and relationship built with her tutor.
So she was able to do some diagnostics and again dyslexia and dysgraphia.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is dysgraphia and how does it differ from messy handwriting?
0:02–5:07
2
How did Kelli’s personal and professional journey lead her to specialize in dysgraphia?
5:07–10:40
3
Why is early recognition of dysgraphia crucial for children’s learning?
10:40–14:43
4
What are the common red‑flags and warning signs parents should look for?
14:43–19:56
5
How can schools and parents effectively assess and differentiate dysgraphia from general handwriting struggles?
19:56–23:29
6
What balance of skill‑building and technology accommodations supports functional success?
23:29–27:27
7
What is the ultimate goal for dysgraphia intervention – perfect handwriting or functional confidence?
27:27–31:57
8
Where can listeners find Kelli’s resources and get a free consultation?
31:57–36:05
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
TPP 266a: A Conversation with Poet and Advocate LeDerick Horne
TPP 522: A Whole Child Approach to ADHD with Phil Boucher, M.D.
TPP 091a: A Conversation With Steve Silberman About His Book “Neurotribes”
TPP 521: A Conversation with Dr. Peter Gray About Restoring Childhood
TPP 253a: Advocate and Author Jonathan Mooney on Why Normal Sucks
TPP 520: Dr. Özgür Bolat on Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids