WRITIC-assessment

About WRITIC

Handwriting is an important occupation for children’s participation at school and is essential for learning reading and spelling. Unfortunately, many children develop handwriting difficulties which negatively affect their school performance and self-confidence. Identification of kindergarten children at risk of developing handwriting difficulties may allow early intervention to prevent handwriting difficulties and negative secondary effects in later grades.

What is WRITIC-assessment?

WRITIC-assessment is an occupation-based assessment evaluating handwriting readiness in 5-6 years old kindergarten children. WRITIC-assessment is a valid, reliable, feasible and predictive measure. Reference data are collected in 374 Dutch kindergarten children (age 5 – 6.5 years). WRITIC-assessment is administered in the classroom, where the influence of the context is taken into account. 

WRITIC-assessment contains items of 3 domains. Each domain consists of 2 subdomains:

• Child
  • Interest
  • Sustained attention
• Environment
  • Physical environment
  • Social environment
• Paper-and-pencil tasks
  • Task performance
  • Intensity of performance

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How does WRITIC-assessment work?

WRITIC-assessment is aimed for children of whom the parents and/or teacher have concerns on their handwriting readiness. The assessment takes place in the classroom, in the natural environment, while other children in the class work at their usual desks or play in a play area. First, the child’s interest in paper-and-pencil tasks is evaluated by means of a short questionnaire. Then, the child is encouraged to complete a drawing booklet with 7 paper-and-pencil tasks while a trained assessor observes and scores performance and quality of the paper-and-pencil tasks.

Availability

WRITIC-assessment is originally a Dutch instrument. Several methodologically well-founded back-and-forth translations have been carried out (English 2019, German 2023, European Portuguese 2024) and other translation projects are currently ongoing (Slovenia, Greece, Bulgaria).

Order the WRITIC manual

Through partner organizations, WRITIC is offered in several languages. We offer the manual in English and in German. We are aslo currently working on more translations. You can order the manuals via the link below. 

Are you interested in WRITIC-assessment for your country?

We have good experiences in working together with international partners affiliated with Occupational Therapy Universities on translation projects and are more than happy to start new collaborations. To ensure cross-cultural translation and validation we work with a standardized six stage procedure(opens in new window). When the translation and validation process is completed, we support further dissemination of the WRITIC-assessment by organising one-day courses for professionals, we support this through a train-the-trainer concept. Our dream for the future is that all children can easily participate in the mastery of handwriting. We believe in the power of building a network to facilitate implementation of the WRITIC-assessment and making it accessible for professionals all over the world.

Contact

Please feel free to contact us and explore possibilities for collaboration.

Articles on WRITIC

• van Hartingsveldt, M.J., P. B.M. Aarts, I. J.M. de Groot, and M. W.G. Nijhuis-Van Der Sanden. 2011. "Standardized tests of handwriting readiness: a systematic review of the literature."  Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 53 (6):506-15. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2010.03895.x.

• van Hartingsveldt, M.J., E.H.C. Cup, I.J.M. de Groot, and M.W.G. Nijhuis‐van der Sanden. 2014. "Writing Readiness Inventory Tool in Context (WRITIC): Reliability and convergent validity."  Australian occupational therapy journal 61 (2):102-109.

• van Hartingsveldt, M.J., E.H.C. Cup, J.C.M. Hendriks, L. de Vries, I.J.M. de Groot, and M.W.G. Nijhuis-van der Sanden. 2015. "Predictive validity of kindergarten assessments on handwriting readiness."  Research in developmental disabilities 36:114-124.

• van Hartingsveldt, M.J., L. de Vries, E.H.C. Cup, I.J.M.  de Groot, and M.W.G.  Nijhuis-van der Sanden. 2014. "Development of the Writing Readiness Inventory Tool in Context (WRITIC)."  Physical & occupational therapy in pediatrics 34 (4):443-456.

• Haberfehlner, H., L. de Vries, E.H.C. Cup, I.J.M.  de Groot, and M.W.G.  Nijhuis-van der Sanden, and M.J. van Hartingsveldt. 2023. "Ready for handwriting? A reference data study on handwriting readiness assessments.“ Plos ONE 18(3): e0282497.

• Delgado, P., Melo, F., de Vries, L., Hartingsveldt, M., & Matias, A. R. (2023). Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Psychometric Properties of Writing Readiness Inventory Tool in Context (WRITIC). Children, 10(3), 559.

About the authors

Margo van Hartingsveldt

Margo van Hartingsveldt is professor of Occupational Therapy within the Participation and Environment professorship at the AUAS's Faculty of Health. In 2014 she obtained her doctorate from Radboud University in Nijmegen with the thesis ‘Ready for handwriting? Development of the Writing Readiness Inventory Tool In Context (WRITIC) for kindergarten children in the pre-writing phase’. After her bachelor study she worked as a paediatric occupational therapist at various locations for more than 25 years.

Liesbeth de Vries

Liesbeth de Vries is occupational therapist in her own private practice, known as ‘Bee’ and researcher within the Participation and Environment professorship at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences Faculty of Health. She graduated from HAN University of Applied Sciences in 2003 and completed the European Master of Science in Occupational Therapy degree programme in 2009. She has been involved in the development of WRITIC-assessment as a researcher since 2009. Liesbeth is co-author of the WRITIC-assessment and the WRITIC-groupintervention and offers national and international training on this topic. She also supervises translation projects for WRITIC-assessment.