Did you know? Santa can sign! St. Nick sends special Christmas message in ASL

‘I wanted to make a video for any deaf/HOH kids who may not have been able to make it to a Santa who can sign’

Santa Jay. (Chelsea Mills)

Those of us who can hear might take advantage of all the wonderful sounds of Christmas, but nothing gets past Santa.

Santa Jay, known as Jarod Mills in his everyday life, was was about to head to an event to meet children and hear what they wanted for Christmas, but before he got in his car, he wanted to execute an idea.

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“I had a couple of friends that I’ve made on parent groups -- they had asked if I could make their child a (Santa) video," Mills said. "I had done a few of those, and I got to thinking … it’d be really cool to make one that anybody could show to their kid, so it could be shown to any child out there.”

To him, that meant wishing all the kids a Merry Christmas verbally and in sign language. He set his phone on his car and began to record. Mills then posted a video with few yet meaningful words:

“I wanted to make a video for any deaf/Hard of Hearing kids who may not have been able to make it to a Santa who can sign. Enjoy!”

We spoke with Santa Jay himself, who said he is no stranger to the deaf community. His family found out that his now-6-year-old son was deaf at the age of 3 months.

“We started learning as much as we could, started getting involved in the community,” he said.

He said he’s spent the last six years studying and immersing himself in the language.

“The deaf community is so strong,” Santa Jay said. “I always wanted (my son) to feel at home.”

He has now spread that love to thousands of kids everywhere.


About the Author:

Dawn Jorgenson, Graham Media Group Branded Content Managing Editor, began working with the group in April 2013. She graduated from Texas State University with a degree in electronic media.