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 31 - 40 of 228 Records
Tip of the Iceberg
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows the ship, the Titanic, coming from the left side of the panel running into an iceberg. Under the water is the sound "CRUNCH!" One of the shipmates says, "OOPS." The tip of the iceberg, above the waterline reads, "Para Ed Issues." Multiple parts of the iceberg below the surface of the water are labeled as: (a) Generic Services, (b) Teaching Formats, (c) Class Size, (d) Staff : Pupil Ratios, (e) Teacher Ownership, (f) Staff Training, (g) Special Ed Caseloads, (h) Paraeducator Roles, (i) Special Educator Roles, (j) and (k) Student Impact. The tag line reads, "Paraeducator Issues: Just the Tip of the iceberg."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
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
Vegas Casinos
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a woman sitting in front of a slot machine with a drink sitting on top of the machine and a bunch of coins in her lap. The slot machine has two arms to pull one on each side of the machine. The tag line reads, "Vegas casinos buckle under political pressure to stop stereotyping disability characteristics as criminal by inventing the Two-Armed Bandit."
- 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
Large Caseloads
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a woman sitting at a desk in the dark with just one light on, papers all around and a calculator in her hands. She says "Looks like I have an average of six minutes a day to support each of my students with disabilities in regular class. That includes planning, assessing, adapting, teaching, consulting, evaluating, communicating with parents, supervising paraprofessionals..." The tag line reads "Large caseloads for special educators: The numbers just don't add up!"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Meeting Mania
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows educators sitting around a big table. One man is saying "Our agenda for today's meeting is to review the agenda from our last meeting, discuss why we don't get much accomplished at meetings, and set a date for our next meeting." The tag line reads "Meeting Mania."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Unusual Behaviors
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a male educator in the right corner of the panel and a Mrs. Baker in the middle front of the panel. The educator asks, "Don't you think David's unusual behaviors will be distracting to the class?" In the thought bubble above Mrs. Baker's head are images of her students, picking their nose, biting their fingernails, yelling, tapping their pencil, twirling their hair, hiding behind a mess, and eating a pen. The tag line reads, "Considering her students without disabilities, Mrs. Baker realizes David's unusual behaviors aren't that unusual."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants