Girl with deformed face learns to navigate world

In this Feb. 22, 2012 photo, Clara Beatty, 9, looks at her mother while doing homework at their Winnetka, Ill., home. The fourth-grader was born with facial deformities, including underdeveloped cheekbones and a small jaw, caused by a genetic mutation called Treacher Collins syndrome. Her parents discovered Clara was quite able to cope, sometimes better than they. Even today, her mother, Janet Beatty, is astounded at how well her youngest daughter navigates the world. "Even when she was little, you could look at her and people would say there's an old soul in there,” she says. “She just had these big eyes and you could see her taking everything in." (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)