OAKVILLE, MO (KMOX) - For special needs children, a visit with Santa in a public place can be impossible. One dad wanted to change that this year.
"I do think that their home environment allowed these kids to open up," says Dan Green, "there were kids who I was told were much more quiet and reserved and they were bouncing off the walls." Green is not a Santa by trade -- he bought the red suit and snow white beard to surprise his own kids this year -- and now has ended up sharing that gift with other special needs families in Oakville. His kids responded so well, he offered to visit other kids through a Facebook post.
Green's two youngest children, Gavin and Emily, have autism. Both are non-verbal. Going to a crowded, busy mall-Santa is not an option -- it's too overwhelming. And Green says some Santas may not have the experience to know how to interact with special needs children, like one little boy he visited this year who expresses himself physically, "a mall Santa would be difficult, whereas me, I understand, I live with it every day. He didn't phase me at all."
His wife Danielle says they did this not only special for special needs kids, but for their parents who grow weary of stares and comments, "you don't want to feel like you have to walk through the door everywhere and be like -- oh autistic, that's why he's acting like that."
Dan says he received the greater gift, through his visits with more than a dozen children this year. And hopes to play Santa again next year.
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