Miss-Delectable
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Signing Santa brings smiles to deaf children
Santa is helping special needs children be more comfortable while visiting the North Pole.
"Signing Santa" is receiving special wish lists from kids in Plano, Texas.
Parents were thrilled to know santa's sign language skills help deaf children enjoy the holiday tradition.
Signing Santa has been assisting the deaf in Texas for 15 years.
The children have never heard Santa's jolly "ho, ho, ho," and many have never sat in his lap to share a Christmas wish list. But this Santa's helper has a surprise. He knows sign language.
"When they notice I can sign, there's a glow that comes over their faces," says Buster Bramall, of Waxahachie, Texas (pop. 24,205), who has portrayed Santa for hearing impaired children for more than 30 years.
The opportunity for the kids to communicate directly with Santa is what makes the experience so special. In the past, many had to send messages to Santa through siblings or friends. Although Bramall is not hearing impaired, his parents were deaf, so he understands the children's frustrations.
"Before I learned to sign, if my daddy didn't understand something I was trying to tell him, he would say, ‘Tell your sister,' (who knew how to sign)," Bramall says. "But I didn't want to tell my sister everything I wanted Daddy to know. It was like going through a third party."
Bramall, now 53, was in his 20s when he began playing Santa Claus for children in a deaf education program in Corsicana, Texas (pop. 26,014), and five years ago he also began appearing at The Shops at Willow Bend mall in Plano, Texas. Between the two locations, about 200 hearing impaired children shared their Christmas wishes with Bramall last year.
Speech therapist Sarah Gillette brought a group of 3-and 4-year-olds from the Mesquite Regional Day School for the Deaf to the Plano event. As each child left Santa's lap, she gave them high-fives and pats on the back. "The kids are used to being in places where people can't communicate with them, so to come here and have someone who can talk to them is really special," she says.
Santa is helping special needs children be more comfortable while visiting the North Pole.
"Signing Santa" is receiving special wish lists from kids in Plano, Texas.
Parents were thrilled to know santa's sign language skills help deaf children enjoy the holiday tradition.
Signing Santa has been assisting the deaf in Texas for 15 years.
The children have never heard Santa's jolly "ho, ho, ho," and many have never sat in his lap to share a Christmas wish list. But this Santa's helper has a surprise. He knows sign language.
"When they notice I can sign, there's a glow that comes over their faces," says Buster Bramall, of Waxahachie, Texas (pop. 24,205), who has portrayed Santa for hearing impaired children for more than 30 years.
The opportunity for the kids to communicate directly with Santa is what makes the experience so special. In the past, many had to send messages to Santa through siblings or friends. Although Bramall is not hearing impaired, his parents were deaf, so he understands the children's frustrations.
"Before I learned to sign, if my daddy didn't understand something I was trying to tell him, he would say, ‘Tell your sister,' (who knew how to sign)," Bramall says. "But I didn't want to tell my sister everything I wanted Daddy to know. It was like going through a third party."
Bramall, now 53, was in his 20s when he began playing Santa Claus for children in a deaf education program in Corsicana, Texas (pop. 26,014), and five years ago he also began appearing at The Shops at Willow Bend mall in Plano, Texas. Between the two locations, about 200 hearing impaired children shared their Christmas wishes with Bramall last year.
Speech therapist Sarah Gillette brought a group of 3-and 4-year-olds from the Mesquite Regional Day School for the Deaf to the Plano event. As each child left Santa's lap, she gave them high-fives and pats on the back. "The kids are used to being in places where people can't communicate with them, so to come here and have someone who can talk to them is really special," she says.