Dance parties are the norm for most teenagers, but not when they’re autistic.
So when Redlands resident Margaret Freeman heard about a dance targeted at teenagers with autism, she didn’t think twice about driving to Glendale for the event Saturday at the Adult Recreation Center.
“We don’t have anything like this up our way,” Freeman said, adding that her 14-year-old daughter likes to dance but doesn’t have many opportunities to go to parties where she feels comfortable.
The event was the first of its kind organized by the Foothill Autism Alliance and one that received an overwhelming response, said Yudi Bennett, the group’s past president and one of its co-founders.
“It’s just great for kids to get out and meet each other,” Bennett said of the dance party, which gave attending teens a chance to mix and mingle with friends at an event that was structured like a typical middle or high school dance. “They’re teenagers. They should be out and doing things.”
Organizers had to turn away eager parents and teenagers because of the popularity of the event, which drew visitors from around Southern California because teen-specific activities for people with special needs are uncommon, Bennett said.
Teenagers with special needs are caught in an awkward midpoint between childhood and adult life where activities aren’t usually aimed their way, she said.
The group typically gets left out of middle and high school dances where the teens might feel uncomfortable and out of place, she said. And they don’t fit into activities organized for children or adults with special needs, she said.
The dance party was filling that void.
“I think it’s a chance for them to participate in a normal teenage activity,” said Jane Fitzpatrick, president of the organization.
Organizers planned the event like a high school dance and asked parents to drop off their children so the teens could enjoy the evening on their own, but some parents were too excited to leave the building.
“It’s been hard to keep the parents out, but we tried,” Bennett said.
The city donated the recreation center for the event, and lifeguards, behavioral therapists, teachers, a deejay and an emcee volunteered to help make the party possible and to make parents comfortable leaving their children behind, Bennett said.
With the music playing, the teens let loose, clapping, shaking, bouncing and turning the center into a club of their own, just with lower-than-normal volume levels.
“This is great music,” said 16-year-old Andrew Hain, who was floating through a crowd of friends with a digital camera in hand.
Jennifer Lesko, 13, got dressed up in a shiny purple dress for the party. She was excited about the opportunity to dance with her friends, something she wasn’t able to do often.
An emcee led the group through a set of line dances, stirring cheers from the teens, but free dancing was just fine for 15-year-old Robin Seleuco, who shook his hips to a Latin track and later broke out into the Running Man.
“It’s so fun,” he said.
ZAIN SHAUK covers education. He may be reached at (818) 637-3238 or by e-mail at zain.shauk@latimes.com.
