by Kristi Burton Brown | liveactionnews.org

There’s gotta be something about magazine covers these days. Sports Illustrated Kids and DC Kids aren’t the only ones featuring children with disabilities as full, productive, and loved members of society. Parents Magazine has now joined the beautiful mix.

The cover of Parents‘ February 2013 issue features beautiful little Emily Kiecher. This sweet and friendly-looking little girl has spina bifida, and she uses a walker. Parents‘ blog writer, Ellen Seidman, writes:

[S]he has spina bifida, a condition that affects 1 in 2500 children caused when the spinal column and surrounding tissue and skin fail to close up in utero. Emily, her mom Liz, 36, and dad Christopher, 35, live in Buffalo, New York. Liz is an at-home mom who runs a handmade hair accessories business, The Sassy Damsel (guess who her favorite model is?) and Christopher’s a high school teacher. The couple are active fundraisers for the Spina Bifida Association, and have helped raise more than $20,000.

Continue…