Absurdities and Realities of Special Education
Absurdities and Realities of Special Education: The University of Vermont Center for Digital Initiatives Collection is a complete set of all of the cartoons created by Michael Giangreco with the assistance of the artist Kevin Ruelle. This includes a total of 335 cartoons from four previously published books and searchable CD that went "out of print" in 2019 and a few newer cartoons. Michael Giangreco created the original ideas, text, and sketches for each cartoon and Kevin Ruelle redrew the sketches.
The cartoons in the first three books all were originally in black and white. That was a conscious decision, both for aesthetic and practical reasons. The cartoons were designed to be easily copied on to overhead transparencies for display in classes, workshops, and other learning environments. A group called Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) requested permission to use one of the cartoons on the cover of their magazine and subsequently colorized it. Prompted by Giangreco’s colleagues associated with ALLFIE, Giangreco and Ruelle began to colorize the rest of the images. In this complete digital collection, we have included a total of 335 different digital images; including the 315 different cartoons from the four earlier books, 12 cartoons that were on the CD only, and eight that were not included in any of the previously published books or CD.
Cartoons from the early books have found their way on to the pages of many newsletters disseminated by schools, parent groups, disability advocacy organizations, and professional associations. They have appeared in books, manuals, and journals; a few were even published in a law journal. The cartoons have been used extensively as projected slides or within learning activities in college classes, at conferences, in workshops, and at other meetings. Parents have framed cartoons that closely reflected their own experiences and hung them in their homes or offices. Other parents have used them in meetings with professionals to help get their points across. They have been given as gifts to people who "get it" and handed out as door prizes. The Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights used them as part of "Disability Awareness Day" at the Vermont legislature. The cartoons can be used in innumerable creative ways.
Showing 191 - 200 of 228 Records
Thick Skin
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a man, with a tattoo of a blue anchor on his arm. He is leaning his arm on a table and gritting his teeth, as another person pinches his bicep with calipers. The tag line reads "After a successful interview, Harry undergoes a final screening to see if his skin is thick enough to be offered an administrative position."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Odd Jobs
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows three people sitting at a table side-by-side. Each of them has a box with nuts and bolts in front of them. The man on the left says, "I put the nut and bolt together." The person in in the middle says, "I take the nut and bolt apart." The woman on the right says, "I put the nut and bolt together." The sign on the front of the table reads "Sheltered Make -Work Industries, Inc. since 1969." The tag like reads, "Odd Jobs!"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Pinocchio's Cousin
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows three panels of a man sitting at a desk on the phone with a parent. In the first panel he is saying "I'm sorry, but we don't have any space available for you child with disabilities in our school." The second panel shows the man's nose getting longer and he is saying "Even if we did, we can't provide the necessary supports in a regular class." The third panel show his nose even longer and he is saying "We really don't have a choice. All students with severe disabilities have to go to the district's special program." The tag line reads "A distant cousin of Pinocchio discovers he has inherited one of his families recessive traits."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Crucial Test
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a scene inside the offices of the Acme Lie Detectors Service. Two men sitting at a table across from each other. One of the men is attached to a lie detector machine which is recoding his responses -- he has wires attached to his arm, is holding a glass of water, and looking nervous. The tester from the agency in a lab coat is looking at a monitor and writing something on the display. He asks, "Do you like Children?" The tag line reads, "Prospective teachers of the future will need to pass this crucial test." A tag line on the left reads, "Inspired by Eileen Cichosky Kelly."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Rock and a Hard Place
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows an administrator, dressed in a suit, being squished between a brick wall and a giant boulder. There is a sign on the wall that says, "Board of Education" and three arms, coming in from the left side of the panel, pushing the boulder into the man. There is writing on each of the three arms which read, "Parents," "Teachers," and "Advocates." The tag line reads, "School administrators often find themselves between a rock and a hard place."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Thin Ice
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a person skating while carrying two very large stack of papers, three feet higher than his head, one in each arm. The image shows the skater on thin, cracking ice with open water on one side where two small fish watch in fear. The tag line reads, "If your caseload is too big, you are skating on thin ice."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Student Relocation Program
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows Mr. Moody sitting at his desk holding in his hand a pair of Groucho Marx glasses (glasses frames with a funny nose and mustache). There are three kids on the other side of the desk all wearing the Groucho glasses. Mr. Moody says to them, "Congratulations! You are no longer classified disabled. Today you begin a new phase in your life. We don't have enough money for plastic surgery, so we are relocating you to a new school and providing these nifty disguises." The tag line reads, "To address the lingering stigma of disability labeling, Mr. Moody implements the district's new 'Student Relocation Program.'"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Quick Guide!
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows an old western scene in a desert landscape dotted with cactus plants. A stage coach off in the distance headed west toward the setting un. Two cowboys on horseback are racing on the road to catch up with it. The cowboy on the left says, "Quick, Guide! Catch up with that coach on the vista!" The cowboy on the right replies, "What's the hurry?? Have you got ants in your pants?" The tag lines reads,"Harvey follows the coach on the path toward Inclusionville."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
This is a Test
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a classroom with students at desks and a teacher at the front of the class. In the upper right corner is a loud speaker announcing, "This is a test! For the next 16 years we will be conducting a test of the Emergency Educational System. In case of an actual educational emergency, you would have been directed where to go to school in your area." The tag line reads, "Remember, this is only a test!"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Balancing Act
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows scales. The top bar of the scales says, "Quality Education" the scale on the left says, "Academic/Functional" and the one on the right says, "Social/Personal." There are gold coins on each scale and there is a hand coming down from the top of the panel with another coin to place in one of the scales. The tag line reads, "It's a balancing act!"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks