Signs of Christmas : Santa Speaks to Deaf Children in Their Own Language

Except for the barely audible swish of arms and hands, the 200 youngsters crowded around Santa Claus at a Ventura party Saturday were silent.

The children, all but about 50 of them profoundly deaf, were waiting to see the signing Santa at a party sponsored by the Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness (GLAD). For the deaf children, some of whom waited for as long as two hours, it was a rare opportunity to talk to Santa in their own language.

Five-year-old Kamron Zarrabian, who was born deaf, was so excited about seeing a signing Santa that he whooped and shouted on the way from his Camarillo home to the party at a Ventura Harbor restaurant, said his mother, Afsoun Zarrabian, 25.

“He loves it,” she said, as Kamron pushed his way to the front of the line. “He can talk to Santa and tell him what he wants, as compared to a hearing Santa (who) doesn’t know what to say. He just sits there.”

The party, which ran from noon to 4 p.m., was the third annual GLAD Christmas party and the third time Ventura resident Robert Graham, 25, has played Santa.

Despite Kamron’s anticipation, the boy turned shy when he got his turn on Santa’s lap. But when Santa repeatedly asked what Kamron wanted for Christmas, the boy finally put his index finger on his chin and looked toward the ceiling as if to think it over. Suddenly, he signed “paint” before jumping down.

Graham, who became deaf from a bout with spinal meningitis when he was 4, never had the opportunity to talk to Santa when he was a child.

Playing the role “kind of makes up for my lost childhood,” Graham said.

Santa Barbara resident Larry Littleton, 36, who emceed the event, said it is possible to maintain order among a throng of excited children who can’t hear a raised voice.

“You just use your hands,” Littleton said, demonstrating by raising his arms above his head and lowering them slowly, a sign for the children to sit down.

Littleton, who has also been deaf since childhood, reads lips expertly and speaks clearly. But he said he remembered feeling frustrated as a child because he could not read Santa Claus’ lips through the white beard.

“It was very frustrating, because I could communicate with him, but he could not communicate with me,” Littleton said. “Even as an adult, it’s a real inspiration to me to see a Santa Claus who can communicate with me.”

“I like him because he can sign and gives other kids a present,” said 8-year-old Julia Velasquez as she waited her turn.

Julia and 16 other students from Elmhurst elementary school in Ventura performed “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in sign language during the party. Several deaf adults took turns signing renditions of various other holiday poems and stories.

Some of the hearing children at the party, who have a deaf sibling or parent, did not share the deaf children’s enthusiasm for the signing Santa.

Twelve-year-old A.J. Kafka, whose mother is deaf, said he felt strange the first time he met a deaf Santa.

“It was, like, weird,” said A.J., who signs fluently. “But I thought he was OK as long as he gives me a present.

“I wish every Santa was hearing,” the Ventura boy said. “But I’m stuck.”

Many hearing parents of deaf children said their children were as excited about going to a party of deaf people as they were at seeing Santa.

Four-year-old Matthew Starn of Ventura has not yet realized that he has a disability, said his mother, Joan Starn. But he gets excited about being around deaf people of all ages, she said.

“The highlight isn’t just the Santa,” Starn said. “It’s the whole party.”