She Found Her Niche With the Handicapped

Kara L. Bartlett said she found her purpose in life when, as an eight-grade student, she met a 2-year-old boy born without arms.

Bartlett, now 24, was amazed by the child’s ability to function despite his handicap. “He was able to do incredible things,” she said.

“I thought then it would be neat working with people like him,” said Bartlett, an adaptive physical education specialist for the Tustin Unified School District.

From that first encounter, “I always had in the back of my mind that I would be doing something like that.” During high school, Bartlett volunteered to help physical education teachers who were working with mentally and physically handicapped students.

“I saw kids run who couldn’t run before they were in the class,” she said.

Later, after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in physical education, Bartlett earned her adaptive physical education license to specialize in helping the handicapped.

“I found it was very easy for me to work with people with a disability,” said the Tustin woman, who spreads her time among seven different schools in the district. “I learned you need a lot of patience.”

In fact, she said, “they are just regular people with a disability. They are all neat people.”

The program incorporates both mentally and physically disabled children and mainstream students who suffer from motor and coordination deficiencies.

“I get to see people--who are not as fortunate as us in certain ways--get a chance to better themselves in life,” said Bartlett, who played varsity basketball and tennis in high school.

The idea behind the program is to give young people an opportunity to build lifetime skills in all areas, “not only in sports, but social needs. To let them know they are part of a program to get along with other people to better themselves,” she said. “Even when they fail, they succeed by accepting failure. We tell them we can’t always be perfect.”

Outside of school, Bartlett organized a program geared strictly for the mentally retarded under the banner of “Tustin Training for the Special Olympics.”

“All through college I coached teams for Special Olympics, and that gave me some of the idea to start it here,” she said. “I don’t see these kids as being different.”

The special programs include mentally retarded children and those suffering from Downs syndrome, Williams syndrome, autism and hyperactivity.

The program immediately ran into financial problems.

“There wasn’t money or facilities available for the project until the Boys and Girls Club of Tustin came to our rescue,” said Bartlett, who was unable to raise funds through nonprofit or city or county sources.

The club provided the program with a place for training and competition and furnished some transportation for the events, which include gymnastics, basketball, track, bowling and softball.

Next year, Bartlett hopes to add swimming to the program and find more equipment and uniforms for participants.