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 1 - 10 of 111 Records
Finding Filling Files Fulfilling
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a special educator holding several file folders as he stands in front of a four-drawer file cabinet and says, "Thank goodness we're finally done with the IEP. Now we can file it and do what we really want." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Fred finds filling file cabinets a strangely fulfilling part of his job."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Cadaver Lab
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a physician and a physical therapy student dressed in medical scrubs standing on the far side table where a cadaver with the lower legs showing is on a table. On the near side of the table are two school psychology students dressed in street clothes and holding clip boards and pencils. The physician says to the physical therapy student, "OK, now pull back the skin to expose the quadricep." One school psychology student asks, "How do I score that?" The other student says about the cadaver, "He didn't give an incorrect response -- give him 2 points. That puts him in the range of moderate to severe intellectual disability." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "In the cadaver lab, physical therapy and school psychology students work together in an experimental interdisciplinary training program."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Up on the Right Side of Bed
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon has four panels. In the first panel a school administrator (Mr. Moody) is sound asleep in his bed a home. In the second panel two colleagues sneak into his room and turn his bed, while he sleeps, around so it is facing the opposite direction. In the third panel Mr. Moody awakens, gets out of bed and stands while stretching both arms high above his head and says, "Aah!" In the fourth panel Mr. Moody arrives at his office at school and says to his assistant (seated at a desk using a computer), "Let's start including and supporting all our students!" The assistant looks confused. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "As a last resort, school staff found a way to help Mr. Moody get up on the right side of the bed."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Lobsterville
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a boy being greeted by man who has one hand that looks like a lobster claw in front of a building that looks like a gigantic lobster trap with a giant lobster already caught inside. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Mr. Crusty welcomes Fred to the Lobsterville Special Education Center where their motto is 'You can get in, but you can't get out!'"
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Classroom Hamster
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a cage with a hamster on a stationary wheel and person's hand is reaching and putting shredded paper on the bottom. Above this image it reads, "The #1 Sign a Teacher Does Not Find a Consultant's Input Supportive." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Consultant's Report is Found Shredded as Bedding for the Classroom Hamster."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Peg's Question
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a young girl sitting on her mother's lap in an overstuffed arm chair with a lamp and end table next to it. The child says to her mother, "Mom, there's a boy in my class with disabilities. Weren't there any kids with disabilities where we used to live?" The tag line reads, "Peg doesn't know that the kids with disabilities in her old district were sent to special education schools." The note on the side indicates, "Inspired by Peg Smith."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Rocket Science
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a teacher at a chalkboard where he has written a long, complicated equation next to a drawing of a rocket. He says to his colleague, "Here's my plan to include James in a regular class -- it's based on a NASA model." His colleague replies, "It doesn't have to be so complicated." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Frank learns that inclusion doesn't have to be rocket science."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Marriage of General and Special Education
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows two people getting married. They are holding hands as they move through a doorway together. Behind them in shadows are lots of luggage of various shapes and sizes. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "In the marriage of general and special education, both parties agree to leave their baggage at the door." The note on the side indicates, "Inspired by Mara Sapon-Shevin, Rich Villa, and Jacque Thousand."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Wheel of Misfortune
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows a game show host about to spin a wheel which is labeled, "Wheel of Misfortune: Severe Disabilities School Version), while his smiling assistant directs the audiences attention to the wheel. The pie-shaped sections on the wheel include 6 categories 3 of which take up a total of 75% of the wheel, 25% each (Special Education Class in District, Special Education Class Out of District, Special Education School). Two categories each take up 10% of the wheel (Home-Based Instruction & Special Education Class in Neighborhood School). The final category, Regular Class with Support, takes up only 5% of the wheel.
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
Voting Regularities
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- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon has two panels stacked vertically, both showing the same image of team members sitting around a table at a meeting. In the top panel the facilitator says, "All in favor, raise your hand." as the majority raised their hands in agreement. In the lower panel a person who wasn't part of the majority has the only raised hand while he says, "But what about my concerns?" The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Sometimes even VOTING REGULARITIES can be Problematic."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants