BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WTVF) — A mom worried her son wouldn't be able to visit Santa at Christmas time. She found herself in the same situation as many families. This mom felt there was something she could do to help.
Lauren Neale carried a camera, snapping pictures of a busy room. The space of bustling families had a story to it. It all started with Neale's 10-year-old son Corban. Corban's autistic.
"You having fun, buddy?" Neale asked her son. "You having fun?"
A few years ago, Corban just wasn't comfortable going to see Santa.
"For a long time, I felt like I couldn't leave our house for fear of what other people would think of his outbursts or meltdowns," Neale said.
One visit changed everything. Neale took her son to see Santa under appearances he makes under the title of Sensory Santa TN.
"It brought tears to my eyes to be able to take him somewhere that he can just be himself and have people not judge him," Neale said.
Neale turned to Rachael Farkas of Mindful Voices Autism Consulting.
"In talking to her, we decided we wanted to bring that to other people," Farkas said.
"I'm so excited to see you!" Santa told a boy running over to see him in a Snoopy sweater.
"Me too!"
Neale and Farkas made Santa's Sensory Wonderland. The first year was held at Light Hill Meats, the business run by Neale and her husband. It quickly outgrew the shop. It's now being held at hotels that can also host resources for families who have children with special needs. There's no line. Families just come over to see Santa when they're ready. If the picture doesn't work out on the first try, that's alright. Santa understands. There's no rush.
Santa's Sensory Wonderland is just the one time a year and has already passed for 2025. Neale is sharing the event now to let people know about both a Sensory Easter Bunny event they'll do in April and future Santa's Sensory Wonderland events.
She said any work is made worth it to just watch how good Santa is with the kids.
"I'm over 600-years-old," Santa said to the stunned look of a girl. "Can you believe that?"
"You guys going to leave me some milk and cookies?" Santa asked two boys.
"Yeah! And coffee!"
"He is just understanding," Farkas said. "It's just easy and judgement free."
"You want a hamster for Christmas?" Santa asked one boy.
"And a pterodactyl," he answered.
"What would you feed a big pteradactyl?" Santa asked.
"Um. Some dinosaur food."
For Neale, this is everything she hoped Santa's Sensory Wonderland would become.
"What else do you want?" Santa asked a little boy.
"Sissy wants a toy."
"Sissy wants a toy? That's so nice of you to think of what sissy wants."
"I've already heard that from some other parents, their child had never been able to go to Santa before and today they were able to do that," Neale said.
"That's sweet, buddy," Neale said as Corban laughed, sitting on Santa's knee.
"Santa loves you," Santa said.
Sensory Santa is booked up for appearances for Christmas 2025, but in March, he'll begin taking appointments for next year. You can reach Sensory Santa here.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
If you're looking for a stocking stuffer, here's a cool idea from an autistic teen to help benefit the Nashville Zoo. I had a chance to see some of Will Woods' work as a judge for Bellevue's Holidays in the Vue Christmas parade.
- Lelan Statom
