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 291 - 300 of 342 Records
Swimming Lessons
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows three panels. The top panel shows kids playing in a pool with a ball and a man standing at the side of the pool talking to a small child. He is saying "Stop! You can't swim so you are not allowed in the pool!" A small caption in the lower right corner of the panel reads "Long Ago." The second panel shows two men throwing a child into a pool. The child is yelling, "AHHHH" The one man says "We'll throw you in. You'll either sink or swim." A small caption in the right corner of the panel reads "Not so long ago." The third panel shows two guys in a pool one has a inner tube on and the other one is helping him. The helper says "We'll start your swimming lessons with some fun activities and supports that we'll fade out later." A small caption in the right lower corner reads "Today" The tag line reads "The evolution of swimming lessons: surprisingly similar to the evolution of including students with disabilities in general education."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Falling in the Woods
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a path in the woods with trees all around. There is a person falling backward and all you can see are their feet and a hand. The tag line reads "If a student with a disability falls in the woods, on the grounds of a special education school, and there are no nondisabled peers there to hear him, does his fall make a sound?"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Thick Skin
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- 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
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- 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
Crucial Test
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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!
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- 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
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- 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