The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘Sensitive Santa’ a special success
Annual holiday event draws near capacity, additional day considered
About 45 families visited the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor Dec. 2 to pose with Santa in a special setting dubbed “Sensitive Santa” which also offered crafts, free books from the Mentor Public Library Pop-Up Library, free train rides from All Smiles Aboard and outreach services from several community agencies.
The 90-minute private event, set in the Dillard’s concourse, provides a calm, more streamlined environment with necessary adjustments to support the sensory, physical and other developmental needs of children of all abilities.
Altogether, six partners work in conjunction to put on the event. Fifteen-minute time slots are designated to serve five families per period.
The popular holiday tradition nearly reached its cap this year, according to Kate Miller, marketing director for Great Lakes
Mall, who also served as a Sensitive Elf along with several other mall and photo staffers, allowing parents to recognize the event’s facilitators.
“Santa is for everyone,” Miller said. “But for children and families with special needs, seeing Santa can bring on stress or anxiety. For those on the autism spectrum and those with related sensory sensitivities, a typical Santa visit can mean crowded spaces, long lines and a swirl of competing noise that can create an overstimulating environment.
“Sensitive Santa is more of a special, magical experience because it eliminates a lot of the crowded areas and queues, and puts the children more at ease. This year, we had an overwhelming response so next year we’re discussing incorporating a second event, possibly on a different morning in late November, due to time challenges of seasonal hours.”
Sensitive Santa is held in partnership with Autism Speaks, which is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families.
Several families, Miller noted, have continued to attend the event annually.
“I’ve seen a lot of familiar faces this year,” she said, adding that Washington Prime Group, a real estate investment trust company headquartered in Columbus, holds
“Sensitive Santa is more of a special, magical experience because it eliminates a lot of the crowded areas and queues, and puts the children more at ease..”
— Kate Miller, marketing director for Great Lakes Mall
similar Sensitive Santa events at many of its various shopping center properties.
After taking a photo with Santa, Jessica Spraggins praised the efforts of the mall and its partners for a successful event.
“It’s such a meaningful occasion, they really do a great job,” said the Mentor resident who, with her family, brought her threeyear-old son, Nathan, for the first time. “I learned of the event through his preschool teacher’s post on Facebook.
“This is much more easygoing. Nathan’s biggest problem is waiting, so this is definitely a much better experience than (one) with everyone here. We’re already planning to come back next year. This is also great because sometimes you don’t know all of the resources available out there, and they make it easy to look at different things and to talk to different people at various stations set up in one area.”