Absurdities and Realities of Special Education
Absurdities and Realities of Special Education: This 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 31 - 40 of 228 Records
Crystal Ball
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a Gypsy wearing a turban looking into a crystal ball. The Gypsy says "I see two sessions of PT, OT, and Speech Therapy weekly." The tag line reads, "The district's experimental method for determining related services works just as well as making those decisions before knowing student's IEP goals and other learning outcomes."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Subtle Reminder
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a classroom with kids sitting at their desks and an Elephant in the corner of the room with a sign on its trunk that says "Remember to include my child!!" The teacher saying "I don't see an elephant in the room…do you?" and another person in the room says "No...I don't either..." The tag line reads "After meetings, phone calls, and letters had failed, one parent tried a subtle reminder."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Inclusion Patrol
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: This cartoon has two panels stacked vertically. The top panel is divided, showing two people talking on the phone. The man on the left says, "Inclusion patrol can I help you?" the woman on the right (Mrs. Snippett) says, "Yes. We are trying to develop a model to transition our preschool students with disabilities into inclusive settings when they reach school age. Have you heard of any good models?" In the bottom panel the same two people are on the phone. The man says, "Yes, ma'am. It's called kindergarten in the neighborhood schools." She replies, "Right?! We hadn't thought of that!" The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Another annoying true story from the files of the inclusion patrol."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Conditions
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows two panels stacked vertically. In the top panel there is a man (Carl) walking down a sidewalk with a clipboard writing. Behind him is an open manhole with a "work area" sawhorse sign and a blind man (Jim) walking with a support cane. The panel below shows the Jim falling into the manhole and the Carl says, "I knew I should have paid more attention to the 'conditions' associated with that objective." The tag line reads "Carl Changes the 'conditions' in his objective: 'given a sidewalk route without an open manhole cover, Jim will safely walk from home to work...'"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
School Calendar
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows two people, a man and woman, looking at the school calendar. The man is pointing at the calendar and says to the woman "Have you seen the proposed school calendar? We have 10 days for teaching and 185 days for testing." The woman replies "Well, at least it's fewer lessons to plan." The tag line reads "Based on current political trends, within two decades 95% of the school year will be devoted to testing."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Student Judges
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows four students sitting at a long table with a banner on the front of the table that says "Student Judges." The student on the far left is holding a score card that reads "7.5" the other three students are not fully showing their cards. There is a teacher standing in front of the table with legs crossed, hand on his left hip right arm up in the air like he is doing a jig with an apple on his head. The tagline reads "After a full week of testing, students decide to turn the tables and judge their teachers."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Mail Order Diplomas
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows an open book of matches. On the inside cover of the matchbook is written. "HOCUS - POCUS U. (M M IT'S LIKE MAGIC! M M) If you have a stamp and a credit card, we're your school! Earn your diploma by mail without ever leaving home! Now offering: PH.D. Master's, Bachelor's, GED," and written in a yellow star, "New IEP Diploma!!! Earn Credit for your life experience." Tag line reads, "Mail order Universities add the increasingly popular IEP diploma to their offerings."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Lady Justice
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2007
- Description: This cartoon shows a car driver's view of their external side mirror. Inside the car you only see the hand and arm of a white man wearing a suit and dress shirt on the steering wheel. In the mirror you see brown-skinned Lady Justice, blindfolded, in a purple wheelchair coming fast. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, CD Only
Parapro Gold
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2007
- Description: This cartoon shows a scale where a paraprofessional is sitting on one side and on the counterbalanced side a conveyor belt is dropping 14K gold nuggets in an effort to balance the scales. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Great paraprofessionals, used wisely, are worth their weight in gold."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, CD Only
On the Brink
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2010-2013
- Description: This cartoon shows a small house teetering on the edge of a cliff, nearly falling off on to the rocks and shark-infested waters below. There is a rope tied around the house and a long line of paraprofessionals pulling hard to stop it from falling. A man with a megaphone calls out, "Get more paraprofessionals! Keep 'em coming!" while a person on the rope line says, "Wouldn't it be better to build on a more solid footing?" The tag line under the cartoon reads: "On the Brink: Is your service delivery model built too close to the edge?"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Post CD
Part of: 5. Post CD