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 311 - 320 of 342 Records
Mrs. Brown keeps her name.
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a group of school personnel seated at a table facing a chalkboard where another person is standing and pointing to the board. On the board are written several different names used to refer to paraprofessionals such as Teacher's Helper, Teacher's Aide, Teacher's Assistant, Individual Support Person, Paraeducator, Jill of All Trades, Ed-entered Servant, and others that are partially obscured -- all of the names have been crossed out with chalk line through each of them. Only one name is not crossed out, Mrs. Brown. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "After a grueling meeting, the staff decides to let Mrs. Brown keep her name."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
April Fools
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a document titled, "Special Education Eligibility", and three categories of information that are filled in, name (Jamie K), D.O.B. (April 1, 1992), and classification (Fool). A person's hand is shown with a pencil using the eraser end to begin erasing the word, "Fool." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Continually confused by ever-changing disability labels, Mr. Moody is annoyed when he realizes the 5 students born on April 1st have to be declassified."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Magic Stapler
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This image depicts a faux advertisement poster. At the top is says, "You can purchase this Magic Stapler $12.99" It shows the image of a basic stapler and star burst where it had stapled together multiple pages of an IEP, each page labeled with goals of different disciplines: special education, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and orientation and. mobility. The bottom of the poster says, "Comes with 599 magic staples -- no fairy dust required." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Transform your separate, disjointed, discipline-specific, uncoordinated goals into a team IEP."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Ants in His Pants
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a boy sitting in chair and desk; the image shows him from just above the waist down. He is squirming and there are crawling on the ground near his feet, up his legs, and near his belt. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "After a hasty special education placement for behavior problems, school official were embarrassed to learn that Marty really did have ants in his pants."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Cloning (Special Educator)
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows one educator talking to another who is holding a test tube. The first educator asks, "What's in the test tube?" The other educator replies, "A small skin sample from Mrs. Keegan, she's a great special educator." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Despite the bio-ethical controversies Maggie favors human cloning."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Cookbook Recipes
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a person dressed as a chef attempting to follow a recipe from a book titled "Inclusion Cookbook." The scene in the kitchen is chaotic and messy (e.g., broken eggs, spilled liquids), with equipment and food strewn about in disarray. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "After several attempts, Fred begins to realize that cookbook recipes for inclusion just don't work."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Cloning (Therapist)
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows one educator talking to another who is holding a test tube. The first educator asks, "What's in the test tube?" The other educator replies, "A small skin sample from Mrs. Keegan, she's a great therapist." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Despite the bio-ethical controversies Maggie favors human cloning."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Everyone is Included
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon has two panels stacked vertically and offset in a stepwise manner. The scenes in both frames are identical, a parent seated in a chair with a piece of paper in her hand speaking with a school principal who is seated behind a desk. In the first frame the parent asks, "In your school do you have inclusive students? Inclusion facilitators? Inclusion classrooms? Inclusion programs?" The principal replies, "No." In the second frame the parent asks, "Why not?" and the principal replies, "Because everyone's included." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Inclusive Education becomes a moot point."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Let's Play Due Process
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows three people in the front of the frame in shadow listening to a man standing behind a podium. There is a sign on the wall behind the man at the podium that reads "Let's Play Due Process!" The man at the podium says "OK teams, let's review the rules..." The tag line reads "DUE PROCESS the game where everybody gets a turn, nobody has fun, and, even if you win, you feel like you've lost!"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Home Reality
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a man and woman sitting and looking exasperated and tired. The mans says to the woman, "We made it through another busy day. Work, dinner, the kids homework, dishes, laundry, bills paid, the kid's baths, bedtime stories…" and the woman responds, "Oh No! We forgot to do the 'home therapy program' and to work on 'IEP Goals'!" The tag line reads "Home programming collides with home reality!"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants