NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A group of kids just got a very special visitor, turning a day into a lot more than just a Christmas celebration. This visit was nothing short of inspirational.
At the Mama Lere Hearing School at Vanderbilt, the core lesson senior communications specialist Kate Carney hopes to teach the children can be summed up like this.
"Even if you have hearing loss, you can still grow up to be happy," she said. "You can still grow up to be a success."
She was glad to welcome a surprise visitor on Monday.
"Think Santa Claus is in that room?" one child asked, walking up to a door.
Now, that would be a pretty good guess.
All the children walked into a room for an introduction by Santa Charles Graves.
"I'm known as Deaf Santa Claus," he told NewsChannel 5 using ASL. "I'm Santa for deaf children, hard of hearing, children of deaf adults, any children with disabilities, autism, and hearing children as well."
There was a key moment from the childhood of Santa Charles.
"When my family first met Santa Claus, we were taking turns, laughing," he remembered. "It was a great time. When it came for my turn, I was so excited. Santa looked at me. He dropped his smile, and gave me a blank face. I was confused. Am I the only deaf person in the world?"
It was that memory, alongside an encouragement from his wife, Mrs. Claus, that led Santa Charles to decide to make these visits. Gaylord Opryland has partnered with Vanderbilt to bring him to Mama Lere Hearing School.
"Our preschool is for children with any level of hearing loss, most of them having either hearing aids or cochlear implants," Kate said. "We can help them learn to talk. They are presented with challenges because of their hearing loss. It's hard work learning to talk when you can't hear as well as other children. It's important to see Santa. Santa also has a hearing loss. Even though Santa signs, it's important for them to know that there are lots of different options for people with hearing loss. They are seeing Santa who is a success despite his hearing loss."
"When I see a child, their eyes light up," Santa Charles said. "I look at their parents. It's just so joyful."
By the way, Santa Charles does these appearances at Gaylord sites all over the country. He tells us he's traveled to five states this season alone.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
