SANTA, KIDS SURMOUNT SILENCE : DEAF STUDENTS' WISHES REACH SILENT SANTA.

Byline: Stacy Finz Daily News Staff Writer

Without uttering a word, 7-year-old Rebecca Freund told Santa Claus what she wanted for Christmas.

``I want a baby doll, a pooch, oh, and one other thing - a pretend baby cat,'' the Burbank girl told him with a series of hand gestures.

Santa smiled broadly.

``Have you been a good girl?'' he gestured back.

And for about three minutes the pair chatted in their silent language.

Both are deaf.

For some of the nearly 500 deaf and hearing-impaired children gathered Thursday at the Silent Sleigh celebration in Santa Monica, it was the first chance to communicate with a signing Santa.

The celebration, in its 12th year, included a parade with live reindeer, a play with deaf actors, lunch, face painting and the traditional chat with

Santa.

``Alice in Wonderland'' was performed for the children in sign language. And a band played.

How did the children hear the music?

``They feel the music in their hearts,'' said C.J. Jones, a deaf Calabasas actor who has been emceeing the event for the past five years.

Santa and Mrs. Claus led a small parade in a sled pulled by reindeer.

In sign language, they told the crowd of children, ``We love you.''

``Before we knew about this we traveled an hour and a half to a Santa we heard could sign,'' said Denise Lotame, whose deaf 6-year-old son, Zachary, a student at Burbank's TRIPOD school, a campus for the hearing impaired, participated in the festivities. ``Then when we got there we realized he didn't even really know how to sign.''

That's precisely why Mike Glad, whose 16-year-old son was born deaf, created the program.

``We were frustrated because there was little access to a signing Santa while my son was growing up,'' said the Fremont, Calif., man, who now holds the event in Los Angeles, Fresno and Sacramento every year.

``We had to drive 40 miles to a mall and wait in line for two hours.''

But more than just a few minutes of quality time with Santa, Silent Sleigh promotes pride in the deaf community, Glad said.

``It means acceptance to these children,'' he said. ``It gives them a sense of warmth.''

``Normally they can't communicate with Santa,'' said Julie Lambert, a first-grade teacher from TRIPOD. ``They're so excited to be surrounded by deaf people. They are very proud to be involved in their culture.''

Zachary appeared ecstatic by all the hoopla. After having his face painted, he waited with a group of his friends to eat lunch.

``I'm enjoying today,'' he said with a large grin. ``I'm going to ask Santa for skates and a hockey stick. I don't play yet, but I need to get that so I can learn.''

Toni Okamoto, a 6-year-old deaf student at TRIPOD, was mesmerized by a pair of life-size penguins.

She bounced up and down as the music played.

``I think this will be the first time she'll really get to experience the spirit of Christmas,'' said Toni's mother, Lorna. ``Up until now it's been hard for her to relate to all the festivities.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) TRIPOD students Joshua Soudakoff, left, and Gianni Manganelli sign ``I love you.''

(2) Sandra Gutierrez, 6, signs her Christmas wish list for Santa Claus at a Silent Sleigh event Thursday.

Tina Gerson/Daily News