The Newtown Special Education (SPED) PTA hosted local pediatrician Dr Laura Nowacki as the guest speaker for its September 23 meeting.

SPED PTA President Mary Murphy explained near the start of the meeting — which was in person at Newtown Municipal Center, streamed live on Facebook, and recorded for later viewing — that the Newtown SPED PTA exists for all parents in the school district with children with special needs.

“We are there to support parents of kids with special needs of any kind, literally even before they hit the school system and whether they are even in district,” said Murphy.

While explaining that the SPED PTA is building up to providing a parent support group to connect parents of younger students with special needs with parents of older students with special needs, Murphy said, “We provide very much parent-focused education support.”

Every month the SPED PTA plans to host a speaker at its meeting to help parents know what programs are available and navigate things like the Individual Education Program (IEP) process.

Murphy also shared that a recent partnership with NYA Sports & Fitness has resulted in an adaptive sports program for children in younger grade levels on Sundays. More information about the program is on NYA Sports & Fitness’s website, nyasportsfitness.com/adaptive.

“These are some of the things we have supported over time and we would love to have people join and be willing to participate in any meetings that we have in the future,” said Murphy.

For the first meeting of the 2021-22 school year, Murphy said the SPED PTA invited Nowacki to answer questions from parents regarding COVID-19 protocols, the particular challenges for students with special needs, and more.

Speaking from her experience as a pediatrician and as a parent of a son with Down syndrome, Nowacki shared insights from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance and some other details.

“We want to do everything we can to protect our children,” said Nowacki.

While responding to parent questions, Nowacki shared that the month of October is exciting for news about when the COVID-19 vaccine will be available for younger ages; spoke about hospital bed demand; myths and realities of viruses and vaccines; and about masks.

According to Murphy, information about upcoming SPED PTA speaker events and other announcements are made available on the group’s website, newtownspedpta.com, and its Facebook page, facebook.com/newtownSpecialEdPTA.

Education Reporter Eliza Hallabeck can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.