HUNTINGTON BEACH : Disabled Youths Hit the Dance Floor

Barry Atkinson is a big Elvis Presley fan, and he tears up the dance floor when he hears The King’s “Hound Dog.”

Using forearm crutches, Barry, 11, works up a real sweat when he dances. “I like music,” he said enthusiastically.

Barry is among youngsters who attend a monthly city-sponsored dance at Edison Community Center for people with disabilities.

“It’s really one of the few opportunities for these people to get out and socialize,” said Janeen Laudenback, director of the center. “It gives them a place to meet and have fun.”

Jose Noyola, 13, who uses a wheelchair for mobility, also likes to dance. He and his friend Bob Langston, 14, who dons his best clothes and splashes on cologne before each evening out, say they also go to meet young women.

They aren’t alone. “I like to talk to all the girls too,” said Chris Fisher, 17, as he twirled his wheelchair on the floor.

Ann Belles, who cares for Barry, Jose, Bob and Chris in her Huntington Beach home for physically and developmentally disabled children, said the youngsters are no different from their peers who face no such challenges: They like to dance and have a good time.

“They look forward to the dance, and they spend more time socializing than dancing,” Belles said.

The dances, co-sponsored by the Huntington Beach Kiwanis Club, have been offered for more than a decade. One of the organizers was Dolores Segura, who was seeking a social and recreational outlet for her son, Martin, now 29, who is developmentally disabled.

Segura’s daughter, Yvonne Segura, 30, now coordinates the dances, creating themes and soliciting donations. Martin Segura still attends regularly.

Yvonne Segura said the evenings out are a time to enjoy old acquaintances and make new friends. “It’s a social get-together,” she said. “It makes them really happy.”

She said the dances also give youngsters a boost in confidence and self-esteem.

Besides, she said, “they deserve to have fun.”

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