DANVILLE — The rocky start of Dalton Kropp’s adolescence would have continued into this year, if it weren’t for a commercial on A&E; one evening when the Kropps were watching “Paranormal State.”

The promo announced that A&E; producers were looking for psychic kids.

The show’s organizers selected Kropp for the show, and they sent a producer to Danville for filming.

In Wisconsin, where another segment of the show took place, he met two people who changed his life.

The pair was Columbia University clinical psychologist Lisa Miller, who works with children with psychic abilities and Chip Coffey, a psychic medium who regularly appears on “Paranormal State.”

Coffey mentored Kropp during the episode shooting and talked with him about his gifts and abilities, which also include seeing spirits.

He taught Kropp to have confidence and empowerment, and to understand that ghosts can’t hurt him.

Experts have determined that Kropp is a clairvoyant impath, which means he has abilities to experience things beyond the range of human senses, but he’s also acutely attuned to people’s emotions.

For example, Kropp knows if someone is upset because he’ll automatically begin feeling their emotions. He’s also been known to speak other people’s thoughts.

Kropp has even predicted when babies will be born.

At the end of his stepmom Leah’s pregnancy, Kropp got back pains and told her she would go into labor that night. Neither his dad or stepmom believed him at first.

Soon after, his stepmom felt the pains, too, and his brother, Gavin, was born soon after.

Family members are supportive of Kropp’s gifts.

His mom, Amber Hays, says she thinks it’s pretty cool. A practicing Wiccan, Hays said she’s more open than most people are to paranormal experiences.

“I think it’s cool,” she said. “I’m really not worried about him.”

To be continued

Kropp has now developed his abilities enough that he can communicate with spirits who visit him.

Kropp’s upcoming episode also features a girl who is gifted, and the two of them visited a haunted bed and breakfast.

The show’s Web site features a video of Kropp and “Psychic Kids” crew members chasing an apparition down a flight of stairs.

Before the show aired, Kropp would never have chased a ghost.

“Then, I wasn’t sure what to do or not do. Now, I know what to do. It makes me feel better, and there are more people around me that know about me, so that makes me feel better,” he said.

Now, Kropp chooses his own actions instead of fearing the ghosts.

If something appears to him, he knows what to do.

“I either pretty much ignore it or tell it to go away,” he said.

“If they need help, I cross them over and guide them to where they need to go.”

Until Coffey and Miller talked with Kropp about his abilities, he was unable to help the ghosts in limbo.

Kropp’s latest paranormal pursuit involves a young man named Jimmy Rogers, who died in 1906. Rogers began appearing to Kropp a few months ago.

Research on the Internet revealed that Rogers, who was 13 when he died, is buried in Niccum Cemetery, a 19th century graveyard off Long Road, which is accessible off Perrysville Road.

Official death records show Rogers died of typhoid fever, but Kropp believes there is more to the death than what records show.

The Kropps believe Rogers is being held at the cemetery by a malevolent entity that won’t let him and other spirits cross over.

“Jimmy is a trapped soul. He knows that he’s stuck here and he’s going nowhere,” Larry Kropp said.

The family continues o visit the graveyard to contact the spirits who dwell there in hopes of helping them cross over.

As time goes on, Kropp will probably encounter more spirits, but he knows how to handle the situations now.

The Kropps thank A&E; and the crew of “Psychic Kids” for all their help in getting the Danville teen back on track.

Last school year, he took accelerated coursework that allowed him to catch up to his peer group at the high school.

Kropp recently began a blog on his Web site in which he advises other kids who’ve had paranormal experiences.