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.

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Showing 11 - 20 of 36 Records

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8 Inclusive education. 7 Students. 6 Special education. 4 Exclusion. 4 Parents. 4 Teaching. 3 Administrators. 2 Attitudes. 2 Bending. 2 Classroom. 2 Disabilities. 2 Educational practices. 2 Emergency. 2 Learning. 2 Schools. 2 Shortage. 2 Supports. 2 Test. 1 Access. 1 Accommodations. 1 Achievement. 1 Actor. 1 Adjustment. 1 Administrator. 1 Advertisement. 1 Advocates. 1 Affliction. 1 Announcement. 1 Backwards. 1 Banned. 1 Barbells. 1 Behavior. 1 Bolder. 1 Breaking. 1 Cap. 1 Career development. 1 Certification. 1 Christmas. 1 Classics. 1 Consumers. 1 Corporal punishment. 1 Crazy. 1 Dancing. 1 Diagnosis. 1 Disco. 1 Disorder. 1 Doctor. 1 Door. 1 Dress Code. 1 Eagle. 1 Education. 1 Eggs. 1 Elephant. 1 English. 1 Evaluation. 1 Files. 1 Fire. 1 Following. 1 Foot. 1 Fox. 1 Goose. 1 Hat. 1 Hiring. 1 Hot coals. 1 IEP. 1 Individualizing. 1 Industry. 1 Interactions. 1 Intimidated. 1 Judge. 1 Jungle. 1 Labeling. 1 Learning disabilities. 1 Lie detector. 1 Lies. 1 Literacy. 1 Literature. 1 Litigation. 1 Logo. 1 Merging. 1 Mirror. 1 Orientation. 1 PTO. 1 Paraprofessional. 1 Phone. 1 Placement. 1 Plus. 1 Positive behavior supports. 1 Positive. 1 Poultry. 1 Principals. 1 Pumped. 1 Puns. 1 Questions. 1 Rating. 1 Ratios. 1 Recording. 1 Recruitment. 1 Recycling. 1 Relativity. 1 Reminder. 1 Roaches. 1 Rock. 1 Rules. 1 Safari. 1 Santa. 1 Scared. 1 Secret. 1 Service delivery. 1 Slide. 1 Special educators. 1 Spectrum. 1 Spot. 1 Spotlight. 1 Standards. 1 Stethoscope. 1 Stories. 1 Swing. 1 Tarzan. 1 Teacher preparation. 1 Terrorless. 1 Testing. 1 Time. 1 Trial. 1 Turkeys. 1 Unified System. 1 Uniqueness. 1 Universal design. 1 University. 1 Waiver. 1 Weightlifting. 1 Wish.

36 still image
Miniature of Hard Questions
Hard Questions
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    • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
    • Date Created: 2000
    • Description: The cartoon shows a woman and a man talking. The man is on the left side of the panel and is saying to the woman, "In our school there are some teachers who lecture to middle-achieving students. Do you really think that will work for students with special needs?" The woman responds, "Probably not. But ask yourself, 'Does that kind of teaching work for many other students?' Let's figure out how we can teach all the kids." The tag line under the image reads, "Answering questions with questions."
    • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
    Miniature of Adjustment Problem
    Adjustment Problem
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      • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
      • Date Created: 1999
      • Description: This cartoon has two panels stacked vertically; they shows a man who is a school administrator calling Mrs. Jones from the school. The top panel is split in half. On the left half there is the administrator from the school on the phone saying, "Mrs. Jones we're having a problem at school. Sarah, Buzz, Roy, and Val seem to be having difficulty getting along with your daughter." On the right half of the panel Mrs. Jones says into the phone, "I'm so surprised! I thought she was getting along so well with her classmates!" The panel on the bottom is split the same as above and the administrator is saying "She is! Sarah, Buzz, Roy and Val are Adults." Mrs. Jones has a thought bubble with gray in it and she has a frown on her face. The tag line reads, "Adjustment Problems: 'Usually the adults, rarely the kids.'"
      • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
      Miniature of It's a Jungle Out There!
      It's a Jungle Out There!
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        • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
        • Date Created: 2000
        • Description: The cartoon shows a sign in the front of a classroom room that says, "Welcome to first-year teacher orientation!" A group of first-year are teachers sitting at tables facing a man dressed in safari clothes, pith helmet, high boots, canteen on his shoulder, and a walking stick who is saying, "People, the jungle is a place of great beauty, but also presents many hazards for the uninitiated. You must learn to become one with the jungle and all its inhabitants." One of the new teachers is leaning over to the person next to him and saying, "Does he always dress in character and talk in metaphors?" The person replies, "I don't know, I'm just glad he didn't dress as Tarzan!" The tag line reads, "It's a jungle out there!"
        • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
        Miniature of Educating Roaches
        Educating Roaches
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          • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
          • Date Created: 1999
          • Description: The cartoon is two panels in the top frame of the panel are a man and a woman. The man is a reporter and is interviewing the woman who is holding up a "Not Roaches" sign. He says "And now a commentary from Bertha Snippett." And Bertha says "Who are these 'Inclusive Education' people and why do they want to educate supportive roaches? I don't care how supportive the are! Roaches are nasty little bugs and furthermore..." In the lower frame the reporter interrupts and says "Excuse me, it's not "educating supportive roaches." It's "Educationally Supportive Approaches." Mrs. Snippett says, turning red in the face "Oh...never mind." The tag line reads "Inclusion mishap #13: Mrs. Snippett decides it's finally time to have her hearing tested."
          • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
          Miniature of Lesson League
          Lesson League
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            • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
            • Date Created: 2000
            • Description: The cartoon shows a classroom with a teacher standing at the chalkboard in front of a class of kids. One of the kids in the front row is holding up a tape recorder and asks, "Mrs. Johnson, is it OK if I tape today's lesson?" Mrs. Johnson replies, "This lesson is intended for the private use of my class. Any rebroadcast or other use of this lesson without the express written consent of the national teacher lesson league is strictly prohibited." The tag line reads, "Simple accommodations in the age of litigation."
            • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
            Miniature of Dress Code
            Dress Code
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              • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
              • Date Created: 2000
              • Description: The cartoon shows Mr. Moody dressed in a white suit from the 70's (he is in a classic pose like John Travolta in the Saturday Night Fever). He is dancing and a disco ball spinning colors reflecting around the room. The tag line reads, "Dress Code: Mr. Moody enacts a new policy: 'All faculty shall wear clothing consistent with the era that matches their educational practices.'"
              • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
              Miniature of Pumped Up
              Pumped Up
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                • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
                • Date Created: 1999
                • Description: The cartoon shows a woman lifting weights on a barbell. The tag line reads "Mrs. Hart gets pumped up about teaching a full range of students, because even though it's hard work, the results really show."
                • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
                Miniature of Recycling
                Recycling
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                  • 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 Career Development
                  Career Development
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                    • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
                    • Date Created: 2000
                    • Description: The cartoon has three panels diagonally across from the bottom right to the top left in a stepwise arrangement. Starting at the bottom right corner the panels has three people following three rulers. The caption at the top of this frame is, "Following the rules" There is an arrow pointing to the next (middle) panel. That panel shows a man with an angry face bending a ruler. The caption at the top of this panel says, "Bending the rules." and has an arrow pointing to the top left corner panel that shows an older man breaking a ruler. The caption says. "Breaking the rules" In the lower right side of the panel is written, "Stages of Career Development" The tag line reads, "How professionals respond to rules that don't make sense."
                    • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
                    Miniature of Achieve All the Standards
                    Achieve All the Standards
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                      • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
                      • Date Created: 2000
                      • Description: The cartoon shows two school officials, a man on the left who is looking stressed and a woman to his right. The man is holding a huge stack of papers that rise from his waist to above his head. He is saying to the woman, "In order for students to achieve all the standards we'll have to extend the school day to 10 hours, the school year to 240 days, and the students will have to go to high school until age 24." The tag line reads, "School Officials Ponder Their Options: Adjust the standards, adjust the school program or adjust both."
                      • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks