Tucson Standard

Club Zeus, a new nightclub for adults over 18 who have special needs, is now open in Tucson, featuring a dance party on the second Saturday of each month.

The club was the creation of Crisann Black, the mother of a 4-year-old, autistic son. The club, which bears his name, will provide food and drinks for guests during the dance parties, according to a story by KGUN.

Black said the facility allows attendees to live it up in the tradition of famous nightclubs such as Studio 54.

“They come in full glam, and they look gorgeous and it’s just incredible to see them and their confidence and it just all shines,” Black said in the story.

Part of the reason Black created the club was because she believed that her son and others with special needs need more social activities. Despite her son being just a toddler, she recognized that the need for such things already exists.

“He’s my baby and I try to remember that he’s growing and he’s not always going to be a baby,” she said. “In thinking about his future in regards of therapies or activities that he's involved in, I want to see more activities take place.”

The club, like many such facilities for people with disabilities, provides a safe space for those with special needs where they don’t have to explain themselves to others, something Black feels the need to do regularly on behalf of her son.

“I do have to speak on his behalf and explain to people, hey he has a disability, he doesn’t mean any harm,” she said. “And sometimes we get really great responses where families are like, ‘oh you know what that makes total sense, let’s let them continue to play,’ and then other times families will remove their child and then he’s kind of left alone to deal with it.”

Club Zeus has a “Spooktacular Dance Party” scheduled from 6-9 p.m. Oct. 8. Guests are invited to show up in their best Halloween costumes, the story stated.