Santa uses ASL to communicate with Nashville children with hearing loss
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Santa flies all over the world and communicates with everyone. That’s why he knows so many cultures and languages.
On Monday, the Gaylord Opryland and the Mama Lere Hearing School at Vanderbilt partnered up to bring a Santa to town that communicates using American Sign Language.
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Kate Carney, the Senior Communications Specialist at the Department of Hearing and Speech Science at Vanderbilt, said the kids were so excited to sit on Santa’s lap, tell him what they wanted for Christmas, and get candy canes.
Most of the children at Mama Lere Hearing School have hearing aids or cochlear implants. They are learning to communicate in different ways and Santa coming to visit showed them another skill they could learn to communicate with ASL.
As a child, Santa had many siblings, but he was the only person in the family with hearing loss, he said. When Santa met Mrs. Claus, she pushed him to follow his dream and go to The International University of Santa Claus. They travel across the United States together representing people with hearing loss.
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P.S. He said he would like more oatmeal raisin cookies this year because he can share those with his reindeer.
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