About Talia Kniznik

Fifteen years inside Ontario classrooms. Now on your side of the table.

Talia Kniznik is an Ontario Certified Teacher with a Special Education Specialist qualification and a Master of Arts in Critical Disability Studies from York University. She has spent over 15 years teaching special education in both public and private schools, supporting children with ADHD, learning disabilities, autism and complex profiles.

She founded The Special Education Consultant so that families never have to face assessments, IEPs, IPRCs and school placement decisions alone. She reads the documents the way the school reads them, then explains them the way a parent needs to hear them.

Credentials

• Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT)
• Special Education Specialist, Additional Qualification
• Master of Arts, Critical Disability Studies, York University
• Bachelor of Education
• Bachelor of Arts

What she does

• Runs Navigating Special Education, a package of three sessions covering how the system works, IPRCs, placement, and accommodations versus modifications.
• Reviews the IEP the school wrote against your child’s assessments, then drafts proposed goals and wording for you to bring to the school.
• Explains an assessment report in plain language in a 60 to 75 minute consultation, and sets out what it means for school and support.
• Researches private and independent schools, recommends three to five that may fit your child, and can join you on a school tour.
• Books hourly time for meeting prep, a specific challenge, or referrals to psychologists, speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists. In most boards she can attend meetings with you.

What she does not do

• She is not a psychologist and does not conduct assessments.
• She is not a lawyer and does not give legal advice.
• She does not promise a particular school decision. She makes sure you understand it and have a voice in it.

Where

Virtual consultations across Ontario. In-person consultations in the Greater Toronto Area.