ADULTS, those grown-ups who are her teachers, therapists and staffers at Stafford Elementary School, tend to see 6-year-old Kayla Rice a bit differently than her classmates do.

These adults can't help but notice the cerebral palsy that makes the thin but determined youngster walk with extra effort at times, on the balls of her feet or with ankles turned.

They help the little blond-haired pixie do all that she can, and even push her to improve physical skills like walking or buttoning her coat. But, occasionally, it's hard for them not to hover and fret when the girl with the fragile-looking frame tries something tough enough to cause a tumble.

And when Kayla agreed recently to give her class a short talk on her cerebral palsy, well, the reaction from these adults ranged from touched to impressed by what they called an extraordinary moment.

But to the other kids in teacher Sue Sweet's kindergarten class, it wasn't something so unique.

It was just their much-liked classmate, Kayla, taking her turn to talk about something she does a little differently from others.

The same way one of them may be a little different because they need glasses, an inhaler or extra help from the teacher to read those tricky sentences.

"Initially, I thought that this was some-thing Kayla could do to help the kids accept her and understand the cerebral palsy she deals with," said Sweet. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that they didn't need a talk to accept her. They have: She's been one of them from her first day in here."

Still, Sweet and another kindergarten teacher thought it would be a good learning experience--both for Kayla and the other students--to have her expand on a poster she did recently for a school contest.

The poster and Kayla's talk focused on the 6-year-old's premature birth (13 weeks early, under 2 pounds), the loss of her twin brother, a brain bleed she suffered and an upcoming surgery designed to help her walk more easily.

I asked the cute youngster about the talk and how she feels about her spot in this class.