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 61 - 70 of 229 Records
Lone Ranger
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a man dressed as a cowboy with a sheriff star on his shirt riding a hobby horse. He is saying, "Hi oh Silver, Away!" The tag line reads, "The Lone Ranger of Teamwork: A team of one gets a little done." A tag line on the left reads, "Inspired by Linda Backus."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Learning the Ropes
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a woman and child both are tangled up in ropes. The woman looks confused and the child looks angry. Tag line for the cartoon is "What can happen when Paraprofessionals are left to learn the ropes without appropriate training and supervision."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Extending the Continuum
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: A USA rocket is at a launchpad waiting to take off into space. To the right is a building with a walkway leading to the rocket. Individuals with disabilities, some using crutches and wheelchairs are boarding. Someone inside the rocket is saying, "Control, we are T-minus 48 minutes and counting for blast off to the space station. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Extending the continuum: where will it end?!! The students who misbehaved in a special ed school are transferred to a more restrictive placement."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
The Eagle Has Landed
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: Mrs. Snippett is standing by the door, in her classroom, speaking on the phone. There are students at desks in the background. The door is open and a student using a wheelchair enters. He says to her, "Hi. Mrs. Snippett. I'm your new student. Mrs. Snippet has her head turned an her hand shielding her mouth. She says into the phone, "The eagle has landed Houston. We have a problem." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "After years of eluding students with disabilities, one finally catches up with Mrs. Snippett.
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Extreme Team & Dream Team
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows two panels. The top panel is a group of educators sitting around a table with papers and pens in front of each person. A mans says, "Are we all here?" A woman at the table says, "Where do my goals go?" The man next to her says, "Are we ready to staple our parts together?" And then another woman at the table says, "Who's going to tell the parents what we decided?" The tag line for the top panel says, "Extreme Team." The lower panel has four people sitting at a table together. Each person has a piece of paper and a pen as well as pizza and drinks. One woman says, "Are we agreed on these common goals?" The man next to her says, "At our next meeting, let's continue with our adaptation planning." The next woman says, "Let's wrap it up by reviewing accomplishments and processing. Joan, thanks for bringing snacks!" The man next to her says, "I'll share this with the rest of my family!" The tag line for this panel reads "Dream Team."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Workable Team Size
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows lots of people stuffed into a phone booth and a line of people waiting. Mr. Moody is holding up his hand and saying "OK that's enough." The tag line reads "In an effort to maintain a workable team size, Mr. Moody suggests limiting membership to the number of people that can fit into a phone booth."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Cheap Imitations
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows four panels arranged in a square pattern, two-by-two. The top left frame shows a one way arrow sign pointing to the right. On the sign it says "Math One-Way" at the bottom of the frame it says "Math One-Way." In the top frame on the right is a scene with trees and a large arch over a road made with tree branches. Across the top to the arch is the word "Math" at the bottom of the frame it says "Math out of the way" The lower left frame has a wood post with arrows nailed to it pointing in different directions and each arrow has the word "Math" printed on it. At the bottom of the frame it says "Math, which way?" The lower right frame has a man on stage singing, "I did math myyy waaay!!" At the bottom of the frame it says, "Math my way." The tag line reads, "A popular math program spawns cheap imitations."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Book Club
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a group of people sitting around in a living room having tea there is a cat sitting on the coffee table. One of the women sitting on the couch says "This month's book club selection is controversial and quite revealing. Some of you might even find it shocking." The tag line reads "Club members prepare to read 'Everything you always wanted to know about special education but were afraid to ask.'"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Diagnosis Du Jour
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a restaurant host standing inside the entrance holding a menu in one hand with a white towel draped over his other arm while saying, "These are our specials... " Next to him is self-standing sandwich board labeled, "Today's Specials." The first three listed specials (LD, EBD, ADHD) are all crossed out and marked "Sold Out." The last item on the list is Autism -- it's the only one not sold out. The tag line reads, "Diagnosis Du Jour."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Anatomy
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows an image of a person with labels for different places in their body. The labels start at top of the panel with a lightbulb above the head labeled, "great ideas" then comes the brain with the label pointing to a very small dot, "small ego." The next label pointing to a large part of the brain, "willing learner." Next is the ear labeled, "good listener." The eye is labeled, "sees things for what they are." The nose is labeled, "able to sniff out trouble" and tip of the nose sports a round clown nose and is labeled, "sense of humor." The smiling mouth is labeled, "optimistic" and the flexed bicep muscle "strong will." The is heart labeled "big heart" and the stomach is labeled "strong stomach." The intestines are labeled "guts" and wiggly shaped right arm is labeled "flexible." The legs are labeled "legs to go the distance" and feet are labeled "feet firmly on the ground." The tag line reads, "Anatomy of an effective team member."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks