NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Easter came early for some kids this year, as a group of over 30 visually and hearing-impaired children took part in a special egg hunt.

The Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind in New Port Richey hosted the event.

The eggs that these kids were hunting were designed just for them, because each brightly colored egg emitted a soft, consistent beeping sound, making them easier to find.

But not too easy, because that wouldn’t be as much fun.  

If they did need help, someone was there to lend a hand, like the Easter Bunny himself.

Alexia Pascco, a 19-year-old student at Windell Krinn High School, has been a client at Lighthouse for a year.

"There’s not a lot of places you can go if you’re hard of hearing, or your vision is impaired, so the fact that they’re having an event that is especially for them to help them enjoy Easter, I think, is cool," said Pascco.

“With the kids who have vision loss, we try to talk to them as loud as we can to try and guide them to the eggs, and for kids that are hard of hearing, we tap them to motion to them, so they can follow you to the egg,” she said.

While the hunt went on outside, on the inside, kids were putting their creativity to the test.

“We’re paining the Easter bunnies, we’re doing marble paintings, sensory bottles and mix-and-matching Easter eggs, where we work on fine motor skills and color and stiff,” said Carly Cline, the youth program coordinator. “I really want the younger kids to be able to look at the older kids and be like, ‘I want to do that one day,' or, 'I can’t wait to do that for younger kids that are coming in.’” I just think having that connection is so important in our community, because it’s so small. And I think it just ties everything together in terms of what we do and what our mission is.” 

Cline also says events like these are about creating memories.

And the kids did that, one Easter egg at a time. 

“I want the world to know they just see from a different perspective. Being blind or deaf isn’t the end of their life. I think it’s just a new way of them to learn and get a different perspective of what’s around them,” she said.