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.

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Showing 1 - 7 of 7 Records

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4 2000 2 1999 1 1998
Miniature of Foot in the Door
Foot in the Door
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    • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
    • Date Created: 1999
    • Description: The cartoon shows a child at the door of a class room trying to get in the door he is rapping on the door and has his foot in the door. There is a man trying to close the door from the right side of the panel. There is a word bubble that says "Rap!Rap!Rap!" in it. The tag line reads "Placement of a child with a disability in a General Education classroom is not enough to be included, it's just a foot in the door."
    • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
    Miniature of Laboratory Retriever
    Laboratory Retriever
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      • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
      • Date Created: 2000
      • Description: This cartoon shows a group of people sitting around a lab table with scientific instruments in front of them. One person is in a wheelchair and a happy (tail-wagging) dog standing on it's hind legs with it's paws on the table is handing him an instrument with his mouth. The person in the wheelchair says, "Thanks!" The tag line reads, "Laboratory Retriever."
      • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
      Miniature of Roots of Special Education
      Roots of Special Education
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        • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
        • Date Created: 2000
        • Description: The cartoon shows Rita tending to her garden of root vegetables. The image depicts a cross-section so you can see the roots growing under ground. Each different type of vegetable has a different label: (a) "Access," (b) "Individualization," (c) "Quality Instruction," and (d) "Meaningful Outcomes." The tag line reads, "Rita returns to dig up the roots of special education."
        • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
        Miniature of Flair for the Dramatic
        Flair for the Dramatic
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          • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
          • Date Created: 1998
          • Description: This cartoon shows a mother and child trying to enter a school with a sign on the exterior, "Exclusionville Elementary." The Principal (Mr. Moody) is physically blocking the entrance to the school while saying, "I'm sorry, but you can't bring THAT child in THIS school." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Mr. Moody displays his flair for the dramatic."
          • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
          Miniature of Clearing the Path V2
          Clearing the Path V2
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            • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
            • Date Created: 2000
            • Description: The cartoon shows a school with children waiting at the bottom of the stairs for a school custodian to shovel the snow so that they can get into the building. A student in a wheelchair asks the custodian, "Could you please shovel the ramp?" he replies, "All these other kids are waiting to use the stairs. When I get through shoveling them off then I will clear the ramp for you." The student in the wheelchair replies back, "But if you shovel the ramp we can all get in!" The tag line reads, "Clearing a path for everyone!"
            • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
            Miniature of Periscope
            Periscope
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              • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
              • Date Created: 1999
              • Description: The cartoon shows two panels. In the first panel there is a man sitting in a wheelchair looking at everyone's legs. The second panel shows the man in the wheelchair with a periscope and all the faces and upper parts of the other peoples bodies. The tagline reads "Joe thinks a periscope should come as standard equipment with every wheelchair."
              • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
              Miniature of Clearing a Path
              Clearing a Path
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                • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
                • Date Created: 2000
                • Description: The cartoon shows a school with children waiting at the bottom of the stairs for a school custodian to shovel the snow so that they can get into the building. A student in a wheelchair asks the custodian, "Could you please shovel the ramp?" he replies, "All these other kids are waiting to use the stairs. When I get through shoveling them off then I will clear the ramp for you." The student in the wheelchair replies back, "But if you shovel the ramp we can all get in!" The tag line reads, "Clearing a path for people with special needs clears the path for everyone!"
                • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks