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 - 2 of 2 Records
Shopping Around
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 2000
- Description: The cartoon shows a woman and a man shopping . There is a banner at the top of the panel that reads, "New Cures and Therapies for Fun and Profit (ours)." There are two shelves of boxes. On the top shelf the boxes , form left to right, are labeled: "Subliminal Message Therapy," "Hydro Pudding Therapy," "Swedish Meatball Therapy," and "Kitchen Utensil Therapy." On the lower shelf, from left to right, the boxes are labeled: "Bungy Jumping Therapy," "Invisible Energy Therapy," and "Bladder Release Therapy." The woman says to the man, "WOW! Cool! Let's try 'em all!" and the man replies, "Do you think the school will pay for all of these?" The tag line reads, "Shopping Around: Do you know these people? They never met a therapy they didn't like."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Teaching Old Logs New Tricks
Doing it Wrong Doesn't Make it Wrong
-
Image nop
- Creator: Giangreco, Michael F., 1956-.
- Date Created: 1998
- Description: This cartoon shows two school colleagues conversing. The one seated behind the desk says, "We placed Jason in a regular class part of the time, we assigned a full-time aide, and we even did therapy in the back of the classroom. He still can't do the same work as the other kids... Inclusion isn't right for everyone." His colleague shakes his head in disbelief and replies, "You STILL don't get it!" The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Inclusive Education: Doing it wrong doesn't make it wrong." The note on the side indicates, "Inspired by Michael Hock."
- Parent Collections: Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, Ants in His Pants