Sign language Santa travels across US to spread Christmas joy

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As reported by the National Association of the Deaf, 53-year-old Charles Graves is a deaf man living in the United States who claims that he never had the chance to express his Christmas wishes, as neither his family nor Santa signed his wish, a common occurrence among deaf families.

Graves, in an interview with People, recalled that when she was a child, it was standard for my siblings to chat with Santa Claus while I got little more than a thumbs up and a pat on the back. That is a reality which is common among children all over the world as well.

His wife Kari, who is also deaf, and Graves have decided to travel across the United States in the form of Santa and Mrs Claus in order to help solve this problem by spreading the spirit of Christmas to children by using American Sign Language to interact with them.

It is very important for children to see a Santa Claus who they can relate to and who they can understand,” Graves added.

As part of his annual tour, Graves travels to a variety of Gaylord resorts around the country, including the Gaylord National Resort in the state of Washington, as well as other Gaylord resorts in his home state of Texas.

The fact that there is enough acceptance out there to outweigh the ‘no’s’ is something we are thankful for, he explained, when asked about booking jobs each season.

Unlike many of his colleagues, Graves, who is also a teacher at the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, attended “Santa School” as a child and says that he spends most of his time thinking about Christmas by the time Christmas comes around, while none of his colleagues gets excited about Christmas.

As well as that, he said: “At the end of the day, my motivation is to be able to sit with the children, to connect with them, and for that, I do this.”

Including his wife in the process is a particularly meaningful experience for him, he says. In the words of Santa Claus, “I would not be able to function without my wife.”.

It’s not just the children Graves enjoys interacting with; it’s also the parents and children he enjoys seeing respond when Graves clicks with their children and gets them to open up to him.

In his words, “I know that we are carving a deep, lasting memory for our children when I see the joy on their faces, which even surpasses the awe in their eyes.”

That news provided by timenews.

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