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A sign from Santa
By CURTIS KRUEGER ST. PETERSBURG -- Eight-year-old Melissa Bentley held the back of her hand to her forehead, one finger poking out like a horn -- and then smiled, because she knew this Santa Claus understood. Unicorn. The other children looked on, ready to tell their dreams with their fingers, excited to find a Santa who grasped which toys they were conjuring by the motion of their hands. Heather Catalano, who is 7 and in second grade, whirled her fists around like feet spinning on pedals. Bicycle. A small boy pointed to himself, and Santa understood that, too. I He clutched the air with both hands, and drew them inward. Want Both hands forward, a few inches apart. Little One palm up, thumb folded in.At Tyrone Square Mall on Friday, the man in the Santa suit knew how to communicate with these deaf and hearing-impaired children. He spoke to them in sign language, asking everyone if they had been good, as they all nodded vigorously "It's just like having someone speak your own language," said Deb Newton, who teaches deaf and hard-of-hearing children at several Pinellas schools. More than 60 children and youths from Cross Bayou Elementary School, Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School and Pinellas Park High School came to the mall Friday to see Santa and to put on skits and other shows. Some of the children wear hearing aids and are able to carry on spoken conversations, but all have some degree of hearing loss. Friday's event was a good chance for the younger children to interact with the older youths who also are deaf or hard of hearing, said Lisa Blake, a counselor for deaf and hard-of-hearing children in the Pinellas schools. "A lot of little deaf children think that when they grow up they're going to hear," Blake said. Events like this help "the younger kids see that they're going to be deaf when they're older, accept that deafness is a part of their lives and be happy with that." "I'm excited to see everyone here," said Kristina Ullom, 14, an eighth-grader. She said it was a great chance to see some of her teachers from elementary school, and friends. Jamie Baughman, 10, said she liked watching the singing, and watching is just the word she used, two fingers pointing outward. While some students waited in line for Santa, others gathered on stage and signed the words to Silent Night and other Christmas songs. The man behind the silvery white beard was Danny Harris, 54, who teaches a deaf men's Sunday school class at the Pinellas Park Baptist Temple. He said he was pleased to be Santa for these children. "I feel good to be able to communicate with these kids," Harris said in sign language, with Blake acting as an interpreter. "Back when I was growing up, there was nobody like this." "The kids were very excited to see that Santa can sign."
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