by Tiffany Capuano

You can’t help but be inspired by our five Cover Kids, who stood out among the many entries we received for this year’s cover contest.

Eddie Beasley

Born unable to hear, 4-year-old Eddie Beasley of Stone Mountain does not speak, but he knows how to let his personality do the talking.

“People just naturally seem to love Eddie, and he has always been a lover of people,” says grandmother Anna. “But now he even tries to communicate with them through signing.”

Eddie attends the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf, and in the past year has made huge strides learning American Sign Language. Last year, Eddie was also diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, which falls under the autism spectrum. Having Asperger’s, Eddie did not like making eye contact, making his understanding of sign language more difficult, says Beasley.

Anna, Eddie’s biological grandmother, began caring for Eddie when he was three weeks old. When Eddie was three months old, she became concerned about his hearing, and when he turned 1, tubes were put in his ears for repeated ear infections.

One day she accidentally dropped some pots and pans and realized he didn’t even jump or react to the noise. It wasn’t until later that she learned he had failed his newborn hearing screening.

But Anna does her best to keep life for Eddie as normal as it should be for any 4-year-old boy. He’s a rough-and-tumble preschooler who loves to swim, wrestle, play ball and ride his bike.

Together, Eddie and Anna go on walks each day, as a learning tool for Eddie. “It allows him to sign out the things he sees and knows,” says Anna. He loves to be outdoors, but Anna worries that he is not yet attentive to cars and animals while playing outside.

Other children often don’t understand why Eddie can’t hear, and Anna usually shows them a few signs so they can communicate with him. It’s her way of educating them about Eddie’s hearing loss. “Although his communication mode is different,” she says, “he can be communicated with.”

Aiko Oguchi

Aiko in Japanese means love, and its symbolism is rooted deeply for 4-year old Aiko Oguchi of Atlanta. Aiko was born a normal, healthy baby, but her parents, Chihiro and Takehiro, noticed a delay when she was about 10 months old.

She began therapies as the Oguchis pursued months of testing for their daughter. Two years later, a muscle biopsy confirmed mitochondrial disease, a genetic disorder of the cells, leaving the body unable to generate enough energy for all body systems to function properly.

The disease, leaving her unable to stand, walk or crawl, affects her gross motor skills. She cannot hold on and doesn’t speak, but mom Chihiro says she expresses herself by making faces, crying and blowing bubbles.

Although her condition is severe, Aiko can eat by herself, with some help, but since she has low muscle tone in her mouth, she is only able to each soft, bite-size foods. “She has a real motivation for food,” laughs Chihiro.

Aiko attends the Kingsley School in Dunwoody, where she entered the pre-kindergarten program this fall. Aiko, who uses a wheelchair, loves going to school because she likes being around other kids.

“She is the only girl in her class, and the boys think she is like a baby, sitting in a stroller,” says Chihiro. “The boys are like her older brothers. They look after her.”

While her stature may be small – she weighs only 27 pounds – her heart is the biggest part of her. “She was born to be loved by everyone,” says Chihiro. “Her smile steals everyone’s heart away. There is no need for words. Her smile gives love to everyone around her.”

When not at school, Aiko loves hippotherapy and watching “Bear in the Big Blue House” videos. She is with therapists every day and has participated in suit therapy. “She got stronger after three weeks of suit therapy. Now she can bend her right knee, which she couldn’t do before,” says her mom.

Emily Carroll

As a preteen, Emily Carroll is living life to the fullest. She loves swimming, horseback riding, indoor rock climbing, reading, drawing and playing piano and clarinet.

At age 2½, Emily walked fine but couldn’t run or jump, says mom Karen, a pediatrician. Diagnosed with congenital muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease that causes her to become weaker and more fatigued each year, Emily no longer walks or stands. At 11 years old, she uses a wheelchair outside of their Cumming home.

Emily lives with her parents, Karen and Bill, her brother, Ryan, 9, and dog, Lady. She likes playing with her dog, but also participates in Girl Scouts, ballet and cheerleading. She has played wheelchair baseball with the Miracle League.

She learned to belay at the end of fourth grade and continues to enjoy rock climbing. “It took her a while but she’s made it to the top,” says her mom.

“She’s a shy kid, but she always has a positive outlook and rarely complains about her limitations,” Karen adds. “She may have to work 10 times as hard at something physically, and may only be able to do it half as well as her friends, but she tries it anyway.”

Emily is a sixth grader at South Forsyth Middle School. When she changed from private to public school last year, she made friends easily. Classmates even fought over who got to help her and push her wheelchair.

For her past six birthdays, Emily has asked her friends not to bring presents but instead to make a donation to her favorite charity, Canine Companions, an organization that trains “helper dogs” for people in wheelchairs. 

“Many of her friends have never known a person in a wheelchair,” says Karen. “They are able to focus on Emily as a kid and not just as a kid in a wheelchair.”

Reagan Valdes

Reagan Valdes will do anything to watch “The Wiggles.” So if mom Allison tells him he has to ask for it, he tries his best.

Four-year old Reagan beat the odds for survival during a complicated delivery and birth. He has cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder, leaving him unable to walk or speak. Reagan lives in Alpharetta with his parents and 18-month-old brother, Jake.

“Reagan is the first to point out when Jake is doing something he shouldn’t be. Or smiling when Jake gets in trouble,” says mom Allison. “They are typical brothers.”

Although his younger brother can walk and talk, Reagan uses some sign language to communicate. Reagan’s dad, Ron, is fluent in American Sign Language, and for more than 25 summers has helped hearing-impaired teens at a basketball camp.

“We always planned to teach sign language to our children someday,” says Allison. “We just didn’t realize that it would be more of a necessity for Reagan.” He knows about 50 or 60 signs, but his parents try to make him verbalize the word along with the sign.

“He’s a great kid who has little apprehension. He understands that you don’t understand,” says his mom.

Last year, Reagan attended St. Luke’s Little Saints preschool at St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church in Dunwoody and a special needs pre-K program at Barnwell Elementary. This fall, Reagan returned to the special needs pre-K program at Barnwell five days a week.

Like any typical preschooler, Reagan loves to play ball. He’s a leftie, since his right side is weaker. He can already throw the ball and is learning to hold a bat and hit a ball from a tee.

This fall, Reagan will participate in suit therapy, a new therapy developed by cosmonauts that uses a specially designed, lightweight suit to help build range of motion as well as muscle and joint flexibility. The intensive therapy lasts four hours each day, but will hopefully give Reagan the ability to feel how it is to stand without a walker.

Paige Palmer

She can tell you almost every hotel she’s ever stayed in and add numbers better than her mother, but for 7-year old Paige Palmer, life is anything but typical.

Diagnosed with high-functioning autism at the age of 3, Paige is a first grader at Flowery Branch Elementary School in Hall County. She was also diagnosed as an infant with galactosemia, a metabolic disorder that causes developmental delays. That diagnosis made it difficult to diagnose autism.

“She doesn’t forget anything,” says mom Laurie. She can tell her mom at what age her mom will be when she turns a certain age. Paige loves to swim, climb, ride horseback and play at the playground. Paige is extremely verbal and began reading before attending kindergarten two years ago. She was placed into a special needs kindergarten with many nonverbal, autistic boys. When Paige repeated kindergarten last year in a typical kindergarten classroom, she flourished, says her mom.

“Her language excelled. She tried to make friends,” says Laurie. “It was something she had never experienced before. Because of her autism, she doesn’t understand that her tone is too loud and that she sometimes scares kids off.”

While intensive therapies – such as applied behavior analysis, hippotherapy, occupational therapy and sensory integration therapies – have helped Paige, it is her involvement in a social skills group that has been most beneficial.

The group, called Out of the Box, based in Alpharetta, pairs high-functioning autistic children with typical kids to model social behavior. Together the children learn how to play games and interact with each other. She’s been with the group for the past two years.

An 11-year old girl named Ivy, who lives in their small community, has taken an interest in Paige. They schedule regular play dates, and Ivy wants to be Paige’s typical friend and help her.

An only child, Paige’s innate ability to speak well and communicate with others shows her mom that she will thrive despite her autism.

“One day, Paige is going to be amazing,” says Laurie. “She’s going to help other kids who have autism, I just know it.”