Ethan and Kendyll's parents both noticed they had abilities from a young age.
Ethan Edmonson and Kendyll Pekarek may seem like two average kids to anyone observing. They both play, go to school and spend time with their families, but they both also have something a little different about them. The children, both 11, have what they call psychic abilities.
“I have healing, I'm clairaudience, clairvoyant and I just know things sometimes,” Ethan told Inside Edition Digital.
His parents, Jon and Ellen Edmonson, said they first noticed his abilities when he was about 2, when Ethan said he had been playing with his deceased grandmother.
“My mother passed away when Ethan was about three-and-a-half months old, so we both just kind of looked at each other and were like ‘OK, that’s interesting,’ and that was the first kind of peek at when it started,” Ellen said.
Eventually, though, Ethan, who lives in Maryland, began shutting down. He felt misunderstood at school, where he had also begun being bullied for being perceived as "weird."
Skepticism to the supernatural or paranormal is not a new concept, but neither is acceptance of and belief in such abilities.
According to a 2005 U.S. Gallup survey, more than one-quarter of people believe humans have psychic abilities, such as telepathy and clairvoyance. That same survey found 42% of those polled believe people can have extrasensory perception, or ESP. Twenty-one percent of those polled believe some people can communicate mentally with someone who has died.
While contending with troubles in the living world, Ethan began finding his abilities also were a source of concern.
He began seeing shadows, his mother said.
“And the spirits, they were just staring at me and it really scared me,” Ethan said of the encounters.
At the same time in Pennsylvania, Kendyll was having similar experiences. She began to isolate herself, and her mom, Denise Pakerek, was worried.
“When I first found out she had abilities, I was just mortified,” Pakerek said. “I had no idea what to do. There is no number to call. I first looked into paranormal groups in the area to help me, which they did. They came over and talked to us about what Kendyll was seeing and verified that she was definitely seeing and hearing spirits.”
The spirits that Kendyll was seeing, however, weren’t so friendly.
“She had quit all of her activities, dance, gymnastics, everything just stopped. She just kind of went into seclusion,” Denise said
To try to better hone in on and understand their abilities, both Ethan and Kendyll's families independently decided to contact the team behind A&E’s “Psychic Kids.” Both Kendyll and Ethan said they came out of the show with a better understanding of their gifts.
Kendyll now identifies as a medium, meaning she can communicate with the dead. She also identifies as an empath and psychic. Among her gifts is the ability to touch objects and get a sense of their history, as well as the ability to remote view places she hasn’t been to yet, she said.
Ethan said he’s an empath, meaning he can sense people’s emotions, is clairaudient, which means he can hear spirits, and clairvoyant, which means he can see them.
Kendyll also now consistently goes on investigations to tune into the spirits in a place.
“My hopes for Kendyll are that I really hope that she expands her abilities,” Pekarek said. “She is very, very good at what she does.”
Kendyll says she believes she was given these gifts to help people, but she doesn’t often tell people about them.
“If they don't ask, I don't like to tell them because, I don't know. I am a quiet person,” Kendyll said.
Ethan also believes he was given his gifts for a reason, but believes he’s more like others than they may think.
“I still feel different, but I still know I'm human and not too different from everyone else,” he said.
