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 1 - 10 of 228 Records
Chin Drop
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows two frames separated by a zig-zag open space to indicate these are two different places at the same point in time. The frame on the right shows a woman wearing a phone headset and is sitting at a desk. She says to the person on the other end of the line, "Big News! From now on we're expected to actually implement all the provisions of IDEA" The man in the frame on the left is holding the phone and drops his chin on the table making a loud "Thump!" when he hears the news. To which the woman on the other end replies, "Wow. This phone line is clear!" The tag line reads, "After receiving inevitable news. You could hear a chin drop."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
In your face
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows two women and a child. The woman on the left says to the other woman, "You must be a very special person to work with disabled children." To which the other woman responds, "Well actually..." The small child standing behind her says forcefully, "Hello?! I'm right here! I can hear you! Hey lady, didn't your mother ever teach you it was rude to talk about people in front of them?" The tag line reads, "Judy's brand of 'in-your-face' Self-advocacy first showed itself at an early age."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Falling Through the Cracks
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a bridge in the sky. There are boards missing across the bridge and the ones that are there have "Standards" written on them. There are children trying to cross the bridge. Some are easily able to get across, some are struggling to hang on, and some are falling through the cracks between the boards. The tag line reads, "How many students are falling through the cracks?"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Slumberville
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a group of 5 people sitting in front of an audience at a curved table. The sign on the front of the table is labeled, "Slumberville School Board." The man on the far left side of the table says, "We need staff who can make decisions and accommodations on the spot for students with disabilities in regular classes." The woman next to him says, "...and they have to be adept at dealing with challenging behaviors." The man in the center says, "And they must be proficient in teaching core academics." The woman on his other side says, "...and life skills too!." The woman on the far right says, "...and we hope to accomplish this by hiring a small army of untrained paraprofessionals at $7.00 dollars and hour." The tag line reads, "If you need staff with the skills of teachers and special educators, maybe you need to hire teachers and special educators."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Atlas
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2007
- Description: This cartoon shows a female paraprofessional in the classic Atlas pose, straining with great effort and strength to carry the world on her shoulders. On top of the world are 15 images of students meant to represent the range of diversity of students supported by paraprofessionals. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Can quality inclusive education be supported on the backs of paraprofessionals?"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, CD Only
Sex Therapy
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2007
- Description: This cartoon has two panels stacked vertically. The top panel shows a man a woman talking to each other and the woman hold a phallic shaped object in her hand. The man asks, "What is that thing?" The woman replies, "This is a battery operated vibrator. I use it in therapy to provide sensory stimulation." In the second panel with the same images the man says, "I didn't know sex therapy was a related service." The woman replies, "It's not. I'm talking about occupational therapy." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Fred continually struggles to understand the relevance of some therapeutic methods."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, CD Only
Chained
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2007
- Description: This cartoon shows a person whose wheelchair is chained to a block wall. Each large, heavy link of the chain is labeled with one of the following words or phrases: inadequate supports, segregated schooling, disability labels, inadequate transpiration, segregated housing, discrimination, stigma. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "None of us are free if one of us is chained." An acknowledgement on the left side of the cartoon reads, "Lyric by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weal, and Brenda Russell as sung by Ray Charles."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, CD Only
Theory of Relativity
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2010-2013
- Description: This cartoon has four panels arranged in a square pattern. Each square is labeled for a different School (A, B, C & D) and shows a different person speaking for each school. In the middle of the cartoon (where the interior corners of the squares meet) is a small rectangle overlapping a bit on to all four squares that says, "Ratio of parapros to students with disabilities." In School A the ratio of parapros is 1:2, in School B it is 1:4, in School C it is 1:6, and School D it is 1:10. Despite the different ratios, the different people associated with each school all say the exact same thing (that is repeated in each of the four squares), "We are just getting by with the parapro resources we have. We couldn't possibly function with any less." The tag line under the cartoon. reads, "The Other Theory of Relativity."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Post CD
Part of: 5. Post CD
Collaboration Myths
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows two people in a room, one person is standing and the other is sitting at a table writing. The person standing is shocked by what he sees (the other person completing the IEP before the meeting with team has started) says, "What are you doing?! Don't you know doing that by yourself can make you go blind?!" The person seated at the table is turning red in he face (showing his embarrassment) and responds, "Really?! I was just trying to get some things taken care of before the team arrived." The tag line reads, "Disability myths spawn collaboration myths."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Long Arm of the Law
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a crowd of people at a conference. The title of the conference on a banner reads, "Welcome to the IDEA Violators Annual Conference." There is a sandwich board that reads, "Keynote: How to Avoid Compliance and Penalties at the Same Time." There is a long shadow of an arm reaching toward the crowd. The tag line reads, "When it comes to enforcing IDEA, The long arm of the law isn't long enough."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks