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http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051209/NEWS/512090403/1006/SPORTS
Nine-year-old Jessica Lopez had never told Santa what she wanted for Christmas. She saw him at the mall each year, but she never heard him wish her a happy holiday.
When she was 3, Jessica's family found out that she was deaf and could not speak.
But on Thursday, she and dozens of other Manatee students had a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell him their holiday wishes using sign language.
"This is so important for these children," said Jessica's mother, Shonna Lopez. "They don't feel so alone."
Santa's visit was part of the school district's holiday party for students who are deaf or hearing impaired. The district hosted the event at Miller Elementary School on Manatee Avenue West with the Community Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The organization hosted a similar event for Sarasota students last week.
"If they were to go to the mall and sit down on his lap, they still couldn't communicate with Santa," said Rachel Kendzior, a speech and language pathologist who works with the students at Miller. "This way, they can have that experience."
Along with giving children the chance to talk to Santa, the event allows them to meet other deaf students.
About 45 deaf or hearing impaired students attend Manatee County schools.
While the schools aim to have all these students learning in a regular classroom, about a dozen of them spend most of their time learning in a special class at Miller.
The rest of the students attend regular classes, many with an interpreter.
Before Santa's visit, the students sat around tables playing dreidel and using sign language to sing holiday songs.
Then they came one by one and sat on his lap and used their hands to tell Santa their Christmas wishes.
Before he saw Santa use sign language at school, first-grader Michael Shoemaker never really understood his significance to the holiday.
"You said Santa was coming and he didn't really know what it meant," said his grandmother, Beverly Buckner. "Here they're not different. It's in their language."
Nine-year-old Jessica Lopez had never told Santa what she wanted for Christmas. She saw him at the mall each year, but she never heard him wish her a happy holiday.
When she was 3, Jessica's family found out that she was deaf and could not speak.
But on Thursday, she and dozens of other Manatee students had a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell him their holiday wishes using sign language.
"This is so important for these children," said Jessica's mother, Shonna Lopez. "They don't feel so alone."
Santa's visit was part of the school district's holiday party for students who are deaf or hearing impaired. The district hosted the event at Miller Elementary School on Manatee Avenue West with the Community Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The organization hosted a similar event for Sarasota students last week.
"If they were to go to the mall and sit down on his lap, they still couldn't communicate with Santa," said Rachel Kendzior, a speech and language pathologist who works with the students at Miller. "This way, they can have that experience."
Along with giving children the chance to talk to Santa, the event allows them to meet other deaf students.
About 45 deaf or hearing impaired students attend Manatee County schools.
While the schools aim to have all these students learning in a regular classroom, about a dozen of them spend most of their time learning in a special class at Miller.
The rest of the students attend regular classes, many with an interpreter.
Before Santa's visit, the students sat around tables playing dreidel and using sign language to sing holiday songs.
Then they came one by one and sat on his lap and used their hands to tell Santa their Christmas wishes.
Before he saw Santa use sign language at school, first-grader Michael Shoemaker never really understood his significance to the holiday.
"You said Santa was coming and he didn't really know what it meant," said his grandmother, Beverly Buckner. "Here they're not different. It's in their language."
