Two-hour blocks.
Split across separate visits where possible. Built around how a child can actually focus — no marathon days.
What to expect
Here’s the whole process, start to finish.
An honest look at what happens — for you and for your child — from the first conversation to the written report. No mystery, no jargon, just a clear picture of what the next several weeks will look like.
01
Before the appointment
It starts with a call.
A 1-hour video call. No clinical interview, no checklist — just a real conversation about what you’ve been seeing and what might actually help.
What we’ll go through together
What you’ve been noticing — at home, in homework, in how they’re talking about school.
What the school has been saying, and what they’ve already tried.
Any prior reports, IPPs, doctor’s notes, or report cards you’ve gathered.
What we’d actually look at — and what your specific range will cost.
If something else turns out to be the better fit — a paediatrician, a counsellor, a speech-language pathologist, or no assessment at all right now — I’ll tell you. The intake isn’t a pitch. It’s fit-finding for both of us.
What to tell your child before the call
For younger children: “We’re going to talk to someone who helps figure out how your brain learns best.” For older children and teens: the honest version — that we’re trying to understand what’s getting in the way at school, and that what comes out of this could change things for them. On the first day we’ll talk about what they want to call this and what they want shared with whom. They get a say in their own assessment.
02
Testing day
Testing day, built around your child.
Testing happens in two-hour blocks, in person. Not one long day. For a full psychoeducational assessment, that’s usually two visits a few days apart. Gifted assessments are a single two-hour block. ADHD assessments land in between, and include rating-scale forms you and the teacher fill out separately.
The space doesn’t look like a doctor’s office. There’s a desk, a couple of chairs, water, candy on the table, an iPad for breaks. I wear hoodies. We talk for a few minutes before any task starts — about school, what they’re into, whether they want music on or off, whether they want the door open or closed. The instruments themselves are the same ones any psychologist would use. The room just reads differently.
Some children find it hard work, especially toward the end of the second block — that’s normal. There are breaks built in. There’s a snack. If your child needs to stand up, walk around, or take a longer break than I planned, we do that. Good data needs a child who’s not running on empty.
Teens get a teen-appropriate setup — same warmth, no infantilising visuals, no juice-box energy. They get a heads-up about each task before we start it, and they get to ask questions about what we’re measuring and why.
What we built into the day
A few small design choices that make a real difference in how a child sits through this kind of work.
Candy on the desk.
Something tactile and sweet within reach. A small thing that takes the pressure off.
Hoodies, not lab coats.
Casual on purpose. Children relax faster when no one’s performing authority.
Testing breaks.
When they need a few minutes to switch off, they switch off. Then we come back.
“Good data depends on a child who’s not running on empty. The whole day is built around that.”
What a typical block actually looks like
First 5 minutes
Settle in
Saying hi, picking a snack, picking music if they want it. A quick chat about how school’s been. Your child sees the desk, the iPad, where the candy is.
~45 minutes
First task block
A mix of paper-and-pencil tasks, conversation-format questions, and some screen-based tasks. Nothing is timed in a stressful way; your child is told before each task what’s coming and what we’re doing.
10–15 minutes
Break
Bathroom, snack, iPad. They don’t have to do anything during the break. If they want to talk, we talk; if they want quiet, we have quiet.
~45 minutes
Second task block
A different format from the first. If the first half was academic, the second usually shifts to cognitive or memory work. We move what’s mentally heaviest around to keep them fresh.
Last few minutes
Wrap
A quick check-in about how it went. They pick something from the candy bowl on their way out. If we have a second block scheduled, we confirm the day.
While testing is happening
You can wait nearby or come back at the end of the block — both work. Some parents drop off and run errands; some stay close by. Either way, I’ll text or call you if anything comes up.
03
After testing
From the last block to the written report.
01
Scoring & teacher consult.
I score the data on my end and — where it’s part of the picture — send a brief email to your child’s teacher for their perspective. You’re not waiting on anything during this stretch; I’ll reach out when we’re ready for the feedback call.
After the last block
02
The feedback call.
I walk you through what came up — strengths, challenges, what the data says, what it doesn’t, and whether a diagnosis applies. You’ll get the headline answer here, before the written document arrives. Plenty of room to ask things, push back, and ask me to say something a different way.
1-hour video call · ~3–4 weeks after testing
03
The written report.
Plain language, specific accommodations the data actually supports, written so the educators reading it — for an IPP under CBE, or a Learning Support Plan under Calgary Catholic — can use it directly. The school still makes the final call on what gets put in place. But the report is written for the people who’ll read it.
~1 week after the feedback call
The whole point is to remove as many surprises as possible — for your child, and for you.
About Vanessa
I built Bench so I could do this work the way it should be done.
“I’m Vanessa. I’m a registered psychologist in Alberta, and I built Bench because I wanted to do assessment work the way it should be done — patiently, in plain language, and in a setting that doesn’t make children feel like they’re being studied. My master’s at the University of Calgary was three years focused on one thing: assessment. Since 2022 I’ve worked with Calgary school boards and with families from every income tier. I wear hoodies to work. I work in two-hour blocks because that’s how a child actually sits. There’s candy on the desk.”
Vanessa Rankin, M.Ed., R. Psych. · More about Vanessa →
Logistics
The practical questions
parents most often ask.
parents most often ask.
Things you’ll want to know before booking. If something isn’t here, the intake call is exactly the place to ask.
For younger children: “We’re going to meet someone who’s going to help us understand how your brain learns best. There’s candy.” For older children and teens: the actual reason — that we’re trying to figure out what’s getting in the way at school, and that what comes out of this could change things for them. Honesty does better here than soft cover stories. Children almost always figure out when something isn’t quite what they were told.
For most assessments, no — children perform differently when a parent is in the room, and the testing instruments assume they’re not. For very young children, or for a child with specific needs, we’ll talk through it in the intake. The gifted assessment intake is the exception: that one is in-person with parents present by design, because it’s short and the chat about what to expect happens there.
It happens — and it’s not the end of the world. If a child is genuinely off (sick, exhausted, refusing tasks), I’ll stop the block and we’ll reschedule. You only pay for the time spent. If it’s just a slower day but they’re engaging, we adapt: shorter task chunks, more breaks, switching the order of what we tackle. The goal is good data, and good data doesn’t come from pushing it.
A regular breakfast and a full night’s sleep are the only real prerequisites — same as any school day. Don’t load them up on sugar beforehand to “perk them up.” The candy on the desk is for during, and we use it strategically. If your child takes ADHD medication, take it as you normally would on a school day; we want to see how they function with their usual supports, not without.
If you need to bring a younger sibling along, that’s workable — we’ll figure out where they wait. The testing room itself is just your child and me.
Life happens with children. Reach out as early as you can — 48 hours’ notice means no charge. Inside that window, there may be a small rescheduling fee. Emergencies and sudden illness days are different; we’ll figure it out. See the pricing page for full policy details →
In Calgary, by appointment. The specific location and accessibility details will be confirmed when you book your intake — we’ll talk through whatever you need for both you and your child to be comfortable.
When you’re ready
The next step is just a conversation.
An intake is a 1-hour video call (30 minutes in person for gifted assessments). You tell me what you’ve been seeing. I’ll tell you whether the assessment that fits is a full psychoed, a gifted-only assessment, an ADHD assessment, or something else — and if none of them fit, I’ll tell you that too. You’ll leave the call with more clarity than you came in with.
The intake is the first hour of the assessment, billed at $240 — a free 15-minute consult call or email first is always an option.