Caring Santa visits with children with special needs

It's the most wonderful time of the year, but  with the holiday season it can also mean a lot of hustle and bustle at the mall, especially for families with special needs children.

"We have Sydney who's 12, Bradley who's 10, and Zachary who's 3. He's the one who is diagnosed with autism.," Kelley Ogletree said.

Ogletree's son Zachary was diagnosed with autism when he was 18 months old.

"When things are loud, he has a problem with it, bright lights really affect him, lots of people around affect him," Ogletreet said.

On Sunday  morning, before Grapevine Mills mall opened, Santa set aside some special time for kids just like Zachary.

"For him to be able to come and have a time specific for Santa where they take the time for him even though he may have a moment, you know but they make it special for him here," Ogletree said.

Vanessa Avila brought her daughter and her non-verbal four year old son, Nathan.

"It means everything to us. Part of the problem with going out to big events like this is the distraction and that overwhelmed feeling he gets, he gets overstimulated by all the people, and so just the time where it's quiet, and there's not a lot of people, takes a lot of the stress off of us.

Parents said this gives them the opportunity to be around other families that deal with similar issues.

"Also, we don't have to worry about if he has a meltdown, people are going to freak out because they're used to this, this is the life they live every day. It's no big deal," Avila said.