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 - 4 of 4 Records

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2 1999 1 1998 1 2007
Miniature of Subtle Reminder
Subtle Reminder
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    • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
    • Date Created: 1999
    • Description: The cartoon shows a classroom with kids sitting at their desks and an Elephant in the corner of the room with a sign on its trunk that says "Remember to include my child!!" The teacher saying "I don't see an elephant in the room‚Ķdo you?" and another person in the room says "No...I don't either..." The tag line reads "After meetings, phone calls, and letters had failed, one parent tried a subtle reminder."
    • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
    Miniature of Placement Problem #32
    Placement Problem #32
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      • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
      • Date Created: 1999
      • Description: The cartoon shows a classroom of students with one very large older boy sitting with all the other younger children. The tag lines reads "Placement problem #32: Functioning level rather than chronological age."
      • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
      Miniature of Fish Bowl
      Fish Bowl
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        • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
        • Date Created: 1998
        • Description: This cartoon shows a round fishbowl that includes a teacher and students inside represented as fish. The teacher says, "Now class, for our next activity‚Ķ" Four people are outside the fish bowl intensely observing what is happening inside the fishbowl. The tag line under the cartoon says, "Sometimes having so many visitors makes Mrs. Grouper feel like she's in a fish bowl."
        • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants
        Miniature of Meet Half Way
        Meet Half Way
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          • Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
          • Date Created: 2007
          • Description: This cartoon shows a school principal standing in front of a classroom of parents. The banner on wall says, "Parent Teacher Organization: Beginning of the Year Q & A." One of the parents asks, "Mr. Marcotte, we've been hearing some stories from the kids about the new teacher that have us concerned." The principal replies, "Tell you what -- If you don't believe half of what the kids tell you about us, we won't believe half of what they tell us about you." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Parents and teachers meet half way." A note on left side reads, "Inspired by Rick Marcotte."
          • Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, CD Only