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 342 Records
IEP that "Loooook Maaaaarvelous"
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a special educator who says, "Mrs. Small said you wanted to see me." as she is seated across the desk from an administrator. In a imitation of Billy Crystal's Fernando Lamas parody the administrator says, "I've been reviewing your IEPs. They look maaaarvelous. And as you know, it's better that they look good than be good." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Special Education Coordinator, Mr. Crossway, has watched too many old re-runs of Saturday Night Live."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Geography Lesson
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows two educators seated side by side looking at a computer monitor together that is displaying a map of the USA. One person says, "But I thought each school district was required to make individual decisions for students with disabilities -- considering regular class placement in the neighborhood school as the first option." The second person replies, "Well, on paper -- but really it depends on where you live. Next we'll look at city and county maps." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Harold gets to use new mapping software to give Ellen a geography lesson in inclusive education."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
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
Longevity
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows two men one handing the other a "Special Longevity Award." The man on the right of the panel is saying "Thank you for your dedicated service. Please, Pleeeease don't leave." The man receiving the award says "I don't understand. I just started working 3 months ago!" The tag line reads "Reducing Turnover: Education officials implement part of their early intervention program." The note on the left says, "Inspired by Dennis Kane."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
PEACE
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows two people dressed in shirts that have half a peace signs on them. They are standing with an arm around each others shoulders so that the peace sign is whole. They have flowers in their hair and are showing the peace sign with their free hands. The tag line reads "Purposeful, Educational Accommodations, Creating, Excellence" the first letter of each word spell out PEACE. The note on the left says, "Inspired by Melanie Giangreco & Amanda Dana"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Stop the Testing
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows two people in bed. The man is having a bad dream and the woman is trying to wake him. He says "Put down your #2 pencils. Stop the testing! Stop it now!" The woman says "Honey! Wake up! You're just having a bad dream." He replies, "...but I'm not finished!" The tag line reads "Night Terrors: Standardized testing still haunts Harry after all these years."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Grapevine
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows three panels. The top panel shows a grapevine with grapes, the grapes are saying "The new student is artistic?" The next panel shows the continuation of the grapevine with another bunch of grapes and this bunch is saying "Yes, quite artistic!" The third panel shows the end of the grapevine with another bunch of grapes saying "I heard that the new student is quiet and autistic!" The tag line reads "Communication Breakdown #15: Hearing anything through the grapevine continues to be a very unreliable way to get accurate information."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
Lead Balloons
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1999
- Description: The cartoon shows a woman standing with her hands on her hips looking worried. There are a lot of balloons floating up into the air and four just sitting there in front of her. The one on the far left is blue and says "More Paperwork," the next one is green and says "Too Many Adults," the next one is red and says "More Meetings," the next one is pink and says "Bigger Caseloads." The tag line reads "The Lead Balloons of Special Education."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants