Sensitive Santa at Heartland Regional Medical Center

Heartland Regional Medical Center

Sensitive Santa

It is estimated that around 1/3 of children today experience sensory sensitivity.  What is sensory sensitivity you ask?  Sensory sensitivity occurs when children or adults have a heightened sensitivity to any one of their senses.  Examples are noise, crowds, bright and flashing lights or strong scents.  Think how difficult it must be for families to take their children to see Santa at the Mall. Think of all the lights, long lines of people, loud talking or other children crying, and Christmas music being played. As you can imagine this type of event is very sensory rich, and not conducive to a positive experience for a child with sensory sensitivity.

In recognizing the hardship families must go through when visiting Santa with their children who are on the Autism Spectrum, Heartland Regional Medical Center is bringing Sensitive Santa to our local families.  We will have a sensory-friendly event for children and families on December 9, 2023.

We will have our Santa room with gentle lighting, limited Santa helpers in the room and your child’s favorite items as presents.  We will have 15-minute appointments with Santa for each family. During this time, we will hopefully get a family picture with Santa as well as presents from Santa.  Absolutely no pressure on pictures with Santa.

Date: December 9, 2023

Where: Heartland Regional Medical Center

Please contact HRMC Human Resources at 618-998-7775 or 618-998-7079 to schedule an appointment.