Signing for Santa

Santa Claus sits in a plump, velvet chair in Plano, Texas, while children with gap-toothed grins, excited eyes and even a few tearful faces line up behind him. The children have never heard Santa’s jolly “ho, ho, ho,” and many have never sat in his lap to share a Christmas wish list. But this Santa’s helper has a surprise. He knows sign language.

“When they notice I can sign, there’s a glow that comes over their faces,” says Buster Bramall, of Waxahachie, Texas (pop. 24,205), who has portrayed Santa for hearing impaired children for more than 30 years.

The opportunity for the kids to communicate directly with Santa is what makes the experience so special. In the past, many had to send messages to Santa through siblings or friends. Although Bramall is not hearing impaired, his parents were deaf, so he understands the children’s frustrations.

“Before I learned to sign, if my daddy didn’t understand something I was trying to tell him, he would say, ‘Tell your sister,’ (who knew how to sign),” Bramall says. “But I didn’t want to tell my sister everything I wanted Daddy to know. It was like going through a third party.”

Bramall, now 53, was in his 20s when he began playing Santa Claus for children in a deaf education program in Corsicana, Texas (pop. 26,014), and five years ago he also began appearing at The Shops at Willow Bend mall in Plano, Texas. Between the two locations, about 200 hearing impaired children shared their Christmas wishes with Bramall last year.

Speech therapist Sarah Gillette brought a group of 3-and 4-year-olds from the Mesquite Regional Day School for the Deaf to the Plano event. As each child left Santa’s lap, she gave them high-fives and pats on the back. “The kids are used to being in places where people can’t communicate with them, so to come here and have someone who can talk to them is really special,” she says.

Stella Ashley of Dallas, a long-time friend of Bramall’s, plays Mrs. Claus. Like Bramall, she is not hearing impaired, but her parents were deaf and she learned to sign as a child. As Mrs. Claus, she greets the children using sign language and finds out their names and what they want for Christmas, passing along the information to Santa so he can greet each child personally.

Angel Rauls, 7, of Dallas, attends the Dallas Regional Day School for the Deaf and was excited to talk to Santa at the Plano mall. “I asked Santa for roller skates,” she says. “If I get them, I’ll probably skate with my friends, and I might be able to teach my younger brothers and sisters to skate.”

Angel has a good grasp of sign language, but some children who are just learning to sign bring pictures of the toys they would like. No matter their signing skills, Bramall says communicating with the kids is not difficult, though sometimes their requests can be heartbreaking.

“One girl asked me for a mama and daddy,” he says. “It’s times like these that I almost lose it and have to breathe deep.”

Bramall is a self-proclaimed emotional guy, but Ashley says his enthusiasm, sense of humor and love of children make him the perfect Santa. Those same qualities have guided Bramall’s work for the past 18 years at the Lena Pope Home, an organization in Fort Worth, Texas, that aids struggling families and supports children in foster homes. Bramall is the director of properties and also founded a program that helps 18-year-olds acquire their first vehicle after being released from the foster care system.

Bramall says he “just tries to help out wherever he can,” but sharing his creative energy enables him to give priceless gifts to those he meets at work or as Santa.

“As Santa, he’s able to bring a certain amount of pleasure to these children, and he is very dedicated to whatever project or commitment he has made,” Ashley says. “He’s a hoot, and I just love him.”

Kristen Tribe is a write in Decatur, Texas

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