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.

List

Gallery

Information

Showing 11 - 20 of 28 Records

Relevance Title (A-Z) Title (Z-A) Year (0-9) Year (9-0)
10 25 50 100
Active filters
Subject Topic Merge: IEP.   Remove all  

28 still image

15 1998 9 1999 4 2000
Miniature of Mr. IEP
Mr. IEP
Image nop
    • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
    • Date Created: 1999
    • Description: The cartoon shows a coffee maker and instructions how to make an IEP with it. The cartoon says "Introducing‚ĶMr. IEP 1. Insert student needs packet (shows putting coffee filter into the coffee maker) 2. Pour in 8 cups of possible IEP goals (shows water pouring into the back of the coffee maker) 3. Turn On Mr. IEP (shows where to turn on the coffee maker) Enjoy perfect IEPs every time!" The tag line reads "Special educators invent misguided automated approaches."
    • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
    Miniature of Recycling
    Recycling
    Image nop
      • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
      • Date Created: 1999
      • Description: The cartoon shows two educators talking in front of a filing cabinet. The woman says "Tom's IEP is due soon. What should we do?" The man responds "No sweat. I've saved every IEP I've ever written over the past 15 years. Pick one and we'll go from there." The tag line reads, "Recycling Gone Bad."
      • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
      Miniature of Option Paralysis
      Option Paralysis
      Image nop
        • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
        • Date Created: 1999
        • Description: The cartoon shows a principal of a school standing on the left side of the panel in an office with a woman in the lower right corner of the panel. There is a table and chairs and papers on the table. The principal holds a very long list and says "In planning your daughter's IEP, we'd like you to chose from this comprehensive list of 13,941 learning outcomes." The woman looks at the principal. She is overwhelmed and has with huge confused eyes. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Mrs. Baker Experiences 'Option Paralysis'."
        • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
        Miniature of Pants down
        Pants down
        Image nop
          • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
          • Date Created: 2000
          • Description: The cartoon shows a man with his pants down around his ankles wearing blue boxers with red hearts on them. He has a file in his hand and papers have fallen out on the floor that are labeled, "IEP." The man is saying "OOOOPS!" The tag line reads, "Are you prepared for all your students? Don't be caught with your pants down!"
          • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
          Miniature of Individualized Education
          Individualized Education
          Image nop
            • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
            • Date Created: 1998
            • Description: This cartoon shows two special education colleagues in front of a computer monitor. As one person points to the screen she says, "Mrs. Worthy, I hope you like our new computerized individual education plans. They allow us to have all our students' goals be the same." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Individualized Education: Mrs. Smithfield fails to notice the contradiction."
            • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
            Miniature of Slim Plan
            Slim Plan
            Image nop
              • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
              • Date Created: 1999
              • Description: The cartoon shows three panels. In the first panel is a woman happy and smiling. The caption at the top of the panel reads "I lost inches and pounds off my IEPs using slim plan. You can too." The lower left panel shows "Before" the same woman is holding a huge pile of papers in the panel it reads, "My IEPs were bloated, thick, and weak. I had unwanted inches and unsightly goals and objectives." The panel on the right says "After" and shows the happy woman again and reads "Now my IEPs are slim, lean and strong. I feel better and I have more energy." the tag line reads "Helen helps herself have healthier habits."
              • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
              Miniature of Amazing Maize
              Amazing Maize
              Image nop
                • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
                • Date Created: 2000
                • Description: The cartoon shows a woman standing at the edge of a large corn field holding a flag with a very long handle. There are two wooden signs. One reads, "Welcome to the Special Ed IEP Process" and the other says, "Please, Take a flag in case you get lost." There is a flag in the field to the left of the panel and someone hidden in the corn maize saying, "I'm back at the same place again." and another flag on the right side of the panel with a different hidden person saying, "Does this ever end?" The tag line reads, "The amazing special education maize."
                • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
                Miniature of The Real World
                The Real World
                Image nop
                  • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
                  • Date Created: 1998
                  • Description: This cartoon has two panels stacked vertically. The upper panel shows the school principal saying, "Congratulations Larry! Again this year you have achieved all your IEP goals!" Larry says, "Thank You!" The lower panel shows Larry sitting across a desk from an employment specialist who says, "I'm sorry. You're not prepared for a real job." Larry is surprised and replies, "How can that be? I've achieved all of my IEP goals!" The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Larry learns the hard way that school and the real world don't always see success the same way."
                  • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
                  Miniature of Elevating Vagueness to an Art Form
                  Elevating Vagueness to an Art Form
                  Image nop
                    • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
                    • Date Created: 1998
                    • Description: This cartoon shows two special educators having a conversation. The first says, "Don't you think this goal is a bit vague? Mark will improve communication skills?" The second person says, "No. That way it can mean whatever you want it to and we'll never have to change the IEP -- I've used that goal for Mark for the last five years!" The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Frank elevates vagueness to an art form."
                    • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
                    Miniature of Lawyers Part of Every Day
                    Lawyers Part of Every Day
                    Image nop
                      • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
                      • Date Created: 1998
                      • Description: This cartoon shows a teacher at the door of her classroom with slightly confused look of her face as she says, "Can I help you?" to a man at her door. The man is carrying a brief case that is labeled with the words "Threats, Intimidation, Legalese, Coercion" and he says to the teacher, "Yes, I'm Bill M. Hourly, Esquire. I'm here to ensure collaboration for Joey's inclusion through adversarial methods." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "The Bar Association proposes an amendment to IDEA requiring that lawyers be part of every child's IEP team."
                      • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants