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​Who Is The SL&DA Assessment For? 

The Strategic Learning & Development Assessment (SL&DA) is intended for families who need careful psychological reasoning, integration of multiple sources of information, and a clear explanation of what their child’s pattern of strengths and difficulties may mean.  The goal is not simply to determine whether a diagnosis applies, but to understand the child's broader profile and provide recommendations that are useful for school, home, and longer-term planning.

Families typically pursue this evaluation when:

• a child’s performance does not match their apparent ability;
• there are overlapping or unclear concerns (e.g., attention, learning, or social functioning);
• prior assessments have not provided sufficient clarity; 
• decisions are required regarding school placement, accommodations, or long-term planning.

​Scope of the Assessment

The SL&DA is a psychological assessment that includes:

• multi-source data collection that may include interview with parents, interview with children, observation of children, standardized testing, and / or collateral information;
• testing that may cover cognitive processes, attention, working memory, processing speed and efficiency, academic, language, and / or social-emotional domains;
• integration of data across history, testing, observation, parent and teacher input, and alternative explanations, including consideration of what should and should not be diagnosed;
• a written report addressing the referral questions;
• a feedback session to review findings and recommendations.

Use of Findings

Depending on the referral question, the SL&DA may be used to clarify what is getting in the way and guide decisions about:

• academic accommodations or modifications;
• educational planning, intervention, or school placement;
• diagnostic questions where learning, attention, development, behaviour, or emotional concerns overlap;
• targeted supports at home, school, or in the community;
• the child’s pattern of strengths, vulnerabilities, and support needs;
• whether additional services, such as counselling, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, tutoring, or medical follow-up, may be useful; 
• longer-term academic, developmental, emotional, and support planning.

New BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit

The SL&DA is aligned with the new financial support streams for families of children with disabilities.  Two BC funding streams:

• Children and Youth Disability Benefit
• Children and Youth Disability Supplement​



Learn More on the BC Government website

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

Age Range

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

Next Steps

Additional Consultation