Even Santa needs a break from the cacophony of shopping malls and his workshop at the North Pole.
The man in red made a quiet stop Saturday on Northeast 18th Street to visit kids who would rather be anywhere than an overstimulating mall.
“You have to pay it forward, and that’s why I do this,” said Mr. Claus.
Sensory Santa, a two-hour event put on by the Vancouver Autism Moms Support Group, took over The Arc of Southwest Washington on Saturday afternoon. Meant for children with any kind of disability, it was a chance to meet Father Christmas without the lines, the noise or the hurry normally associated with the Santa Claus photo-op.
“One mom came up and said her daughter had never had a picture with Santa because she’s afraid,” said Autism Moms organizer Melissa Dodge. “But today, she rushed right up.”
Kris Kringle can be a scary figure to young children — a man in a bright red suit, with a big white beard, and a stranger in general — but many of the kids seemed comfortable with Santa and with each other.
“My kid goes crazy with the noise (at the mall),” Tiffany Craven said, but even among the occasional crescendo of children’s voices at the Arc on Saturday there was relative order.
“Every year, we’ll learn more what works,” Jennifer Amash said as one of her daughters went for a table full of coloring book pages and crayons. “It’s trial and error with these kids.”
This is just Sensory Santa’s second year. Dodge said she started the event not knowing of any other Santas in the area who cater to those with sensory conditions.
But now 6-year-old Chloe Amash, who has autism spectrum disorder, can climb onto Saint Nick’s lap without pressure, without the hurry of a line behind her, taking her time to smile when she feels like it. Which she did.
It’s nice, too, that the photography is free.
“It’s difficult to get those kids in to see Santa,” said photographer Tammy Fraley, whose grown son has Asperger’s. “We didn’t have this when my son was young. This is my little way of giving back.”
Also participating was Vancouver’s Cub Scouts Pack 2, which was founded for special-needs boys.
“It’s a great group we work with,” den leader Joe Marlett said.
His son Jayden, 6, “needs a little more help socially,” Marlett said. “It’s a great place to learn these skills. We’re always looking for more boys to grow the pack.”
All the families gathered felt not an obligation but a desire to help, and to do so with cheer.
“It’s for the kids,” said Santa’s helper Joel Dodge, husband of Melissa and father of a 9-year-old with Asperger’s. “It’s for the love.”
