Introduction
Handwriting fluency entails writing from memory, integrating cognitive and motor processes. Fluency is necessary for meaningful writing and classroom participation from the first year of schooling, as education strongly focuses on self-generated text. Up to 30% of children have difficulty with handwriting, driving high referral rates to occupational therapy. To date there has been no standardised tool for occupational therapists to assess the contribution of handwriting fluency to handwriting difficulties from the beginnings of letter learning. A new standardised assessment has been validated and is available for free by open access. This assessment detects and scores the emergence of handwriting fluency skills, guides intervention approaches to remediate handwriting difficulties, and can diagnose source errors in older children.

Learning objectives
By the conclusion of the workshop participants will:
• Understand the evidence base for the assessment.
• Learn and practice administration and scoring rules.
• Interpret data from assessment to guide intervention.

Audience engagement approach
The workshop will be interactive, practical and will include:
• Presentation of an evidence-based model of handwriting fluency acquisition.
• Hands-on experience scoring the assessment using video and administration rules.
• Discussion of scoring profiles and application to intervention approaches including participant generated ideas.

Relevance to occupational therapy practice
Assessing handwriting fluency provides valuable information at the basis of meaningful writing and guides intervention. This valid, reliable, and standardised tool evaluates handwriting fluency from the first year of schooling, assesses problem sources, and guides intervention focus, forming an important addition to the occupational therapy toolkit.