WRITIC
Measuring instrument
Writing is an important skill that children need to participate in school, for cognition, and for learning to read and spell. Many children develop writing difficulties, which have negative consequences for their academic performance and self-confidence. With the WRITIC assessment and group programme, writing difficulties can be identified and addressed at an early stage. WRITIC is available in Dutch, English and now also in German and European Portuguese.
What is WRITIC?
WRITIC is an occupation-based assessment evaluating handwriting readiness in 5-6 years old kindergarten children. The WRITIC-assessment is a valid, reliable, feasible and predictive measure. Reference data are collected in 374 Dutch kindergarten children (age 5 – 6.5 years). The WRITIC-assessment is administered in the classroom, where the influence of the context is taken into account.
Video about WRITIC
How does the WRITIC-assessment work?
The 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 seven paper-and-pencil tasks while a trained assessor observes and scores performance and quality of the paper-and-pencil tasks.
Available languages
The WRITIC-assessment is originally a Dutch instrument. Several methodologically well-founded back-and-forth translations have been carried out and released. WRITIC is available in English, German and European Portuguese. Other translation projects are currently ongoing in Slovenia, Greece and Bulgaria.
Interested in WRITIC 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 6-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.
Order WRITIC manual
Through partner organisations, WRITIC is offered in several languages. You can order the English hard copy manual via the link below. The English manual is also available as an e-book via Amazon. The German and European Portuguese manuals will be provided during the training courses.
Contact
Please feel free to contact us and explore possibilities for collaboration.
English WRITIC-assessment
Downloads
- WRITIC drawing book(opens in new window)
- Score book (pdf)(opens in new window)
- Score form (.XLS)(opens in new window)
- Score form (.PDF)(opens in new window)
We strongly recommend to follow a training course before using WRITIC-assessment in practice to ensure a valid and reliable assessment. We offfer online courses in English on request. Please contact us if you’re interested.
German WRITIC-assessment
Downloads
- WRITIC Zeichenbuch (opens in new window)
- WRITIC Protokollbogen (opens in new window)
- WRITIC Auswertungsbogen (opens in new window)
- Fragebogen für padagoginnen(opens in new window)
- Article in German journal ergopraxis about WRITIC-assessment(opens in new window)
Courses
- New course dates: 12-4-2025 (online) and 8-9-2025 (online). Read more about the online courses(opens in new window).
- A face-to-face course is planned on 14-06-2025 in Marburg, Hephata Ergotherapieschule Fokus. Read more about the face-to-face course.
- Austria: new course is planned on 6-6-2025. More information Read more about the course.
European Portuguese WRITIC-assessment
Downloads
- Downloads will be available in the spring of 2025.
Courses
- Will be scheduled as soon as the translation of the manual is finalised. As soon as these are planned, we will announce them here.
Timed TIHM| English
Downloads
During the development of the WRITIC assessment we adapted the revised Test of In-Hand Manipulation to empower its psychometric properties. We renamed the test into the Timed Test of In-Hand Manipulation.
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 research group. 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 member of the Participation and Environment research group. 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 the 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 the WRITIC-assessment.
Questions
Do you have questions about WRITIC?