Strategic Learning & Development Assessment - Evaluate is a boutique psychological practice that specializes in providing comprehensive, high-quality psychological assessments for children, teens, adults, and families.

Strategic Learning & Development Assessment (SL&DA)

Comprehensive psychological assessment for children and young people ages 5–21

Sometimes it is clear that a child is struggling, but much less clear why.

A child may be bright, but performing inconsistently; coping well at school, but becoming overwhelmed at home; struggling socially despite wanting friendships; experiencing anxiety that seems connected to other difficulties; or showing a complicated mix of learning, attention, language, sensory, emotional, or developmental differences.

The Strategic Learning & Development Assessment (SL&DA) is a comprehensive psychological assessment designed to make sense of that complexity.

The goal is not simply to determine whether your child meets criteria for a diagnosis. It is to understand the whole picture: how your child thinks and learns, what comes easily, what is difficult, why those difficulties may be occurring, and what will genuinely help.

When a diagnosis is warranted, it is clearly explained. However, when the evidence does not support a diagnosis, that is equally important.

What is an SL&DA? SL&DA?

When might an SL&DA be Helpful?

A comprehensive psychological assessment for children and young people with complex learning, developmental, social-emotional, or high-ability profiles.

Clinical depth without a lengthy waitlist.

The SL&DA is a premium assessment service designed for families who need timely access to thorough diagnostic clarification, practical recommendations, and a decision-ready written report.

No formal waitlist

Most families begin within weeks to a few months

Ages 5–21

$7,000 flat fee

Scope of an SL&DA

Parents often arrive at an assessment having spent years observing patterns that are difficult to capture during a brief appointment, in a classroom, or on a standardized test. Dr. Heiner takes time to understand what parents have noticed, when concerns first emerged, how their child functions in different situations, what has already been tried, and what questions remain unanswered.

Every assessment is individualized, and the assessment does not rely on one test, questionnaire, observation, or person's perspective. Depending on the questions being considered, Dr. Heiner may integrate:

developmental history and parent observations;
medical, developmental and educational records;
previous assessments and diagnoses;
information from teachers and other professionals;
standardized parent and teacher measures;
direct psychological testing / assessment;
interviews and clinical observations; and
the pattern of consistency and inconsistency across these sources.
When home and school, or parents and previous professionals, see a child differently, the task is not simply to decide who is right. Those differences can themselves provide important information about demands, masking, regulation, relationships, fatigue, and the supports available in different environments.

Availability?

A limited number of assessments are accepted each month because each file requires substantial review, testing, interpretation, report writing, and feedback. Appointments are offered on a selective, rolling basis rather than through a standing waitlist.

Fees

The fee reflects the full assessment process, not only the time spent in testing sessions. A comprehensive psychological assessment may involve review of background information, parent interview, child interview, standardized testing, behavioural observation, collateral interview, interpretation of results, consideration of competing explanations, integration across developmental, learning, attention, and emotional domains, report writing, and a feedback session. In complex cases, the most important part of the assessment is often the clinical reasoning that occurs after the testing is complete: determining what the findings mean, what they do not mean, and how to translate them into useful recommendations.

This is a fixed-fee service of $7,000.
The assessment is typically completed within 4-6 weeks from the first testing session.
Modified or sliding-scale arrangements are not available.

Children develop quickly, and their learning profiles can change over time. For this reason, a follow-up assessment may sometimes be required to clarify a child’s current strengths, needs, and support recommendations.

Families who return to Dr. Heiner for a comprehensive follow-up SL&DA assessment may be eligible for a 30% reduced reassessment fee, bringing the follow-up assessment fee to $4,900.

An SL&DA may be appropriate if:

your child is struggling academically and it is not clear why;
your child appears bright or capable, but their performance is unexpectedly inconsistent;
ADHD, autism, a learning disorder, or another developmental condition has been suggested;
you wonder whether your child may be autistic, but their presentation is subtle or does not fit common stereotypes;
your child functions very differently at home and at school;
your child appears to hold things together at school but is exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious, or dysregulated afterwards;
there are concerns about attention, executive functioning, language, learning, memory, sensory processing, behaviour, or emotional regulation;
anxiety is prominent, but it is unclear whether it is the primary difficulty or is occurring in response to underlying developmental, learning, sensory, social, or executive demands;
your child has significant strengths alongside areas of difficulty;
giftedness or twice-exceptionality (2e) is being considered;
previous diagnoses or assessments do not seem to explain the whole picture; or
you need a clearer understanding of the supports or accommodations your child requires.

What does an SL&DA involve?

1. Parent intake and records

Parents meet with Dr. Heiner by Zoom for a detailed discussion of their child's development, strengths, difficulties, educational experiences, previous assessments or diagnoses, and the questions they hope the assessment will answer. Relevant developmental, medical, educational, and psychological records are also reviewed.

2. Information from school and other professionals

With parent consent, Dr. Heiner may obtain information from teachers, case managers, or other professionals who know the child. This may include standardized questionnaires and, where useful, direct communication about the child's functioning.

3. Individual assessment with your child

Children typically attend two to three in-person assessment sessions at the North Vancouver office. Assessment methods are selected specifically for the child and the questions being considered. Assessment is not limited to test scores. How a child approaches tasks, communicates, responds to difficulty, regulates themselves, problem-solves, and responds to different demands can also provide important information.

4. Integration and comprehensive written report

Dr. Heiner integrates the child's developmental history, records, parent and school information, standardized measures, direct assessment results, and clinical observations. Families receive a comprehensive written report explaining: the child's strengths and areas of difficulty; how the different findings fit together; diagnostic conclusions, when appropriate; the reasoning underlying those conclusions; relevant alternative explanations; and individualized recommendations for school, home, and other professionals. The aim is for parents to finish the assessment understanding their child better.

5. Parent feedback

Parents meet with Dr. Heiner by Zoom to review the results, recommendations, and next steps and to ask questions about what the findings mean for their child.

Age Range

This service is limited to children and adolescents aged 5 to 21.

Ready to Get Started?

Parents and caregivers may apply directly. Referrals are also welcomed from physicians, schools, and other professionals. The initial application allows Dr. Heiner to determine whether the Strategic Learning & Development Assessment is appropriate for your child's needs.

Parents or legal guardians may submit an application here.

Professional referrals are also accepted here.

FAQ

Is this a psychoeducational assessment? Yes, and it is broader than a traditional psychoeducational assessment. When appropriate, the SL&DA includes the cognitive and academic assessment typically associated with a psychoeducational evaluation. It can also examine language, attention and executive functioning, adaptive functioning, autism, social communication, emotional and behavioural functioning, giftedness, and other developmental questions.

Is this an autism assessment? It can be. Dr. Heiner has particular experience assessing children whose autism presentations may be subtle, masked, complex, or different from common stereotypes. When autism is a relevant question, the assessment considers the child's developmental history and current functioning across multiple areas and settings. Autism is considered alongside other possible explanations rather than assumed from the outset.

What if my child makes eye contact, has friends, is imaginative, or is very social? No single behaviour determines whether a child is autistic.

Children can make eye contact, have friendships, demonstrate empathy, engage imaginatively, enjoy social interaction, or have strong language skills and still be autistic. A comprehensive assessment considers the child's broader developmental pattern, including the quality and effortfulness of social communication, flexibility, sensory experiences, interests and behaviours, developmental history, and functioning across environments.

Will my child receive a diagnosis? Not necessarily. A diagnosis is provided when the available evidence supports one and it meaningfully explains the child's functioning. The assessment may instead determine that a suspected diagnosis is not supported, that another explanation fits better, or that the child has meaningful strengths and difficulties without meeting criteria for a particular disorder.

What if school and home see very different children? That difference is important information. Children may function differently depending on structure, predictability, sensory demands, relationships, expectations, available supports, and the effort required to maintain regulation.

Rather than automatically privileging one perspective, the assessment considers functioning across settings and tries to understand why those differences occur.

My child already has a diagnosis. Can reassessment still be useful? Sometimes. Children develop and the demands placed on them change. Reassessment can clarify the child's current profile, determine whether previous diagnoses remain appropriate, identify newly apparent difficulties, and provide updated recommendations.

Will insurance cover the assessment?

Families should check directly with their insurer regarding coverage for psychological assessment services. A receipt for psychological services is provided. Reimbursement depends on the terms and limits of the family's individual plan.

Can this assessment help with the new BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit or Disability Supplement? Potentially, depending on your child's needs and the eligibility pathway involved. BC is introducing two new financial support programs for children and youth with disabilities: the BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit; and the BC Children and Youth Disability Supplement.

The BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit is intended for children and youth with significant functional support needs. Some children will qualify through a diagnosis-based pathway, while others may be considered through a needs-based review that looks at the child's functional limitations and their impact on everyday life. The Province has indicated that professionally administered functional assessment and health-care provider information may form part of this process. The detailed needs-based assessment process is still being developed.

Because the Strategic Learning & Development Assessment evaluates not only diagnosis, but also areas such as cognitive functioning, adaptive functioning, communication, learning, attention, executive functioning, social-developmental functioning, and the child's everyday support needs, the resulting report may provide useful documentation where this type of information is relevant to an application or eligibility review. However, completing an SL&DA does not guarantee eligibility for the BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit. Eligibility is determined by the Province under its program criteria.

The BC Children and Youth Disability Supplement is different. It is an income-tested benefit of up to $6,000 per year per eligible child and is linked to eligibility for the federal Disability Tax Credit (DTC). Eligible families will be automatically enrolled once the required federal eligibility and income criteria are met; the first payments are scheduled for July 2027.

Where appropriate, Dr. Heiner's assessment may also provide clinical information relevant to a child's DTC application. Approval of the DTC and either BC benefit remains the responsibility of the relevant government authority.

Separated Parents and Family-Law Matters

The Strategic Learning & Development Assessment is not a family law or parenting evaluation. Where parents are involved in active legal proceedings, significant parental conflict, disputes regarding consent, or circumstances in which the child's psychological assessment may become part of a parental dispute, Dr. Heiner may determine that a private SL&DA is not appropriate. Families are asked to disclose these circumstances when applying so that suitability can be considered before appointments are scheduled.