Absurdities and Realities of Special Education
Collection Overview
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...
Show moreAbsurdities 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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Pages
- Title
- Skyrocket
- Date Created
- 2007
- Description
-
This cartoon shows two people outside looking up at a star-filled night sky as they see something bright streaking up and across it. One person points to it and asks, "What's that?" The other person calmly says, "Oh, that's skyrocketing use of special education paraprofessionals." The tag line...
Show moreThis cartoon shows two people outside looking up at a star-filled night sky as they see something bright streaking up and across it. One person points to it and asks, "What's that?" The other person calmly says, "Oh, that's skyrocketing use of special education paraprofessionals." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Out of Sight!"
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- Title
- Slim Plan
- Date Created
- 1999
- Description
-
The cartoon shows three panels. In the first panel is a woman happy and smiling. The caption at the top of the panel reads "I lost inches and pounds off my IEPs using slim plan. You can too." The lower left panel shows "Before" the same woman is holding a huge pile of papers in the panel it reads...
Show moreThe cartoon shows three panels. In the first panel is a woman happy and smiling. The caption at the top of the panel reads "I lost inches and pounds off my IEPs using slim plan. You can too." The lower left panel shows "Before" the same woman is holding a huge pile of papers in the panel it reads, "My IEPs were bloated, thick, and weak. I had unwanted inches and unsightly goals and objectives." The panel on the right says "After" and shows the happy woman again and reads "Now my IEPs are slim, lean and strong. I feel better and I have more energy." the tag line reads "Helen helps herself have healthier habits."
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- Title
- Slumberville
- Date Created
- 2000
- Description
-
The cartoon shows a group of 5 people sitting in front of an audience at a curved table. The sign on the front of the table is labeled, "Slumberville School Board." The man on the far left side of the table says, "We need staff who can make decisions and accommodations on the spot for students...
Show moreThe cartoon shows a group of 5 people sitting in front of an audience at a curved table. The sign on the front of the table is labeled, "Slumberville School Board." The man on the far left side of the table says, "We need staff who can make decisions and accommodations on the spot for students with disabilities in regular classes." The woman next to him says, "...and they have to be adept at dealing with challenging behaviors." The man in the center says, "And they must be proficient in teaching core academics." The woman on his other side says, "...and life skills too!." The woman on the far right says, "...and we hope to accomplish this by hiring a small army of untrained paraprofessionals at $7.00 dollars and hour." The tag line reads, "If you need staff with the skills of teachers and special educators, maybe you need to hire teachers and special educators."
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- Title
- Small Print
- Date Created
- 1999
- Description
-
The cartoon shows a document titled "Mission Statement." There is a large magnifying glass over a section of the document that enlarge the words "child," "except," "for" and "students." The top of the document reads, "All children can learn, are welcome." Some of the title is under the magnifying...
Show moreThe cartoon shows a document titled "Mission Statement." There is a large magnifying glass over a section of the document that enlarge the words "child," "except," "for" and "students." The top of the document reads, "All children can learn, are welcome." Some of the title is under the magnifying glass. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Fred was shocked when he read the small print."
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- Title
- Snailville
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
-
This cartoon shows two giant snails sitting in chairs at a table with paperwork in front of each of them. The first snail says, "Those inclusive education radicals want everything yesterday. What do they expect?!" The second snail says, "I know what you mean, we've only had LRE provisions in the...
Show moreThis cartoon shows two giant snails sitting in chairs at a table with paperwork in front of each of them. The first snail says, "Those inclusive education radicals want everything yesterday. What do they expect?!" The second snail says, "I know what you mean, we've only had LRE provisions in the law since 1975!" The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Administrators at Snailville School lament the speed of change." A note on the side indicates, "Inspired by Alan Gartner and Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky with help from Melanie Giangreco."
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- Title
- Sometimes numbers do lie
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
-
This cartoon shows a detective, wearing a Sherlock Holmes style hat with a listening device pressed against a wall with other end in his ear to listen to what is happening in the adjacent room. Pictured in the other room are two numbers talking to each other. The number 7 says, "No really, 100 +...
Show moreThis cartoon shows a detective, wearing a Sherlock Holmes style hat with a listening device pressed against a wall with other end in his ear to listen to what is happening in the adjacent room. Pictured in the other room are two numbers talking to each other. The number 7 says, "No really, 100 + 34 = 199." Number 2 replies, "I never knew that." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "After weeks of undercover work, Fred verifies that sometimes numbers do lie!"
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- Title
- Space Jam / Space Maker
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
-
This cartoon has two panels stacked vertically. The top panel shows a school administrator talking on the phone while sitting at his desk looking very relaxed (feet up, leaning back in his chair, glasses up on his head, and drink with a straw). He says to a parent on the phone, "I'm sorry Mrs....
Show moreThis cartoon has two panels stacked vertically. The top panel shows a school administrator talking on the phone while sitting at his desk looking very relaxed (feet up, leaning back in his chair, glasses up on his head, and drink with a straw). He says to a parent on the phone, "I'm sorry Mrs. Brown, but we simply don't have enough space in our school to accommodate your child with special needs -- but we'll find a place in a nearby district..." The tag line under this top panel reads, "Space Jam." In the bottom panel a colleague says to the administrator, "It looks like we're going to have an extra kindergarten class next fall. Where will we put them?" The administrator is on the move as he says, "We'll figure something out. Put the music class on wheels, art on a cart, and get a portable if necessary." The tag line under this bottom panel reads, "Space Maker."
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- Title
- Speaking Loudly
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
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This cartoon shows a professional educator at a table with three children. She yells, "THAT'S VERY GOOD, ALAN, NOW IT'S JILL'S TURN" so loudly that the force of her voice makes the students' hair blow back as if in a wind storm. The tag line below the cartoon reads, "Ellen thinks speaking loudly...
Show moreThis cartoon shows a professional educator at a table with three children. She yells, "THAT'S VERY GOOD, ALAN, NOW IT'S JILL'S TURN" so loudly that the force of her voice makes the students' hair blow back as if in a wind storm. The tag line below the cartoon reads, "Ellen thinks speaking loudly is a form of specialized instruction."
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- Title
- Special Class Euphemisms
- Date Created
- 2000
- Description
-
The cartoon shows four panels arranged in a square. Each panel shows a door with a different sign. In the top right frame, a door sign shows two hands reaching out toward each other and reads, "Inclusion Room." The top left panel shows a door decorated with a blue star that reads, "Discovery Room...
Show moreThe cartoon shows four panels arranged in a square. Each panel shows a door with a different sign. In the top right frame, a door sign shows two hands reaching out toward each other and reads, "Inclusion Room." The top left panel shows a door decorated with a blue star that reads, "Discovery Room." The bottom right panel shows a door with sign with a spaceship and stars on it with the sign, "Space Place." The bottom left door has a sign that is shaped like an apple; the sign reads, "Learning Center." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Opening the door on special class euphemisms."
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- Title
- Spin-off Slogans
- Date Created
- 2000
- Description
-
The cartoon is a panel split into four frames in square pattern. The top right frame is a woman wearing a button on her shirt, the button reads, "What part of 'No' don't you understand?" The tag line for that frame is, "Wide acceptance, short, clear and concise." The frame on the top left shows a...
Show moreThe cartoon is a panel split into four frames in square pattern. The top right frame is a woman wearing a button on her shirt, the button reads, "What part of 'No' don't you understand?" The tag line for that frame is, "Wide acceptance, short, clear and concise." The frame on the top left shows a man with a beard and a blue buttoned shirt. His button reads, "What part of 'All' don't you understand?" The tag line for this frame reads, "Considered too sarcastic by some." The frame on the lower left shows a man in a suit and tie. His button reads, "What part of 'The Budget' don't you understand?" and the tag line reads, "Leads to many questions people can't answer." The lower right frame is a woman doctor and her button reads, "What part of 'Bilateral Derotational Osteotomies' don't you understand?" The tag line for this frame reads, "Requires too large a button." The tag line for the whole cartoon reads, "Why spin-off slogans are never as good as the original."
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- Title
- Spotlight
- Date Created
- 2007
- Description
-
This cartoon shows a woman in a wheelchair working at a computer in an office with others. The scene is in low light and there is a spotlight over her work station illuminating it. Above her is says, "Shining a light on...." and just under her is word disability (with the dis in lower case the...
Show moreThis cartoon shows a woman in a wheelchair working at a computer in an office with others. The scene is in low light and there is a spotlight over her work station illuminating it. Above her is says, "Shining a light on...." and just under her is word disability (with the dis in lower case the ability in capital letters). The way the spotlight is positioned it is only shining on ability. When read with the spotlight effect, the message is "Shining a light on ability." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Employment for All." A note of the line side of the cartoon reads, "Inspired by the Vermont APSE: The Network on Employment."
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- Title
- Stair Wars
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
-
This cartoon shows a boy at the top of a four-step stairway that goes straight into a wall as he says to his physical therapist. There's nothing here but a wall." His physical therapist is dressed in a Darth Vader costume holding a light sabre as he says, "Now walk back down the stairs!" The tag...
Show moreThis cartoon shows a boy at the top of a four-step stairway that goes straight into a wall as he says to his physical therapist. There's nothing here but a wall." His physical therapist is dressed in a Darth Vader costume holding a light sabre as he says, "Now walk back down the stairs!" The tag line under the cartoon reads, "STAIR WARS: Freddie is not amused by his physical therapist's choice of Halloween costume." A note on the side indicates, "Inspired by Norman Kunc."
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- Title
- Standards Protest
- Date Created
- 2000
- Description
-
The carton shows people in the foreground picketing with signs that say, "Put your money where your mouth is!" "Students for adult accountability," "Students against revisionist history." "Why, when I was a kid…", "Fairness in standards now!" In the upper left corner of the panel in the...
Show moreThe carton shows people in the foreground picketing with signs that say, "Put your money where your mouth is!" "Students for adult accountability," "Students against revisionist history." "Why, when I was a kid…", "Fairness in standards now!" In the upper left corner of the panel in the background are two men in suits. One man says to the other, "Thank goodness we made it through school before the standards movement!" The tag line reads, "Standards are adjusted after the legislature considers a bill requiring school board members to pass the same assessments given to students."
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- Title
- Stone-Age Shaping
- Date Created
- 1999
- Description
-
The cartoon shows three panels with a father and son from the stone-age. In all the panels there is a fire with a bird cooking on a spit, a stone wheel, and a spear. The first panel shows the son and his father sitting near the fire. The Father asks, "Son, show me cooking." The son is pointing to...
Show moreThe cartoon shows three panels with a father and son from the stone-age. In all the panels there is a fire with a bird cooking on a spit, a stone wheel, and a spear. The first panel shows the son and his father sitting near the fire. The Father asks, "Son, show me cooking." The son is pointing to the spear with a questions mark over his head. The father says "No you are cold." In the second panel the son points to the wheel and the father says, "You're getting warmer." In the third panel the son is pointing to the fire with the bird cooking over it and the father says, "You're Hot, Hot!" The tag line reads "Stone-Age origins of shaping."
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- Title
- Stop the Testing
- 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 ...
Show moreThe 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."
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- Title
- Student Judges
- Date Created
- 1999
- Description
-
The cartoon shows four students sitting at a long table with a banner on the front of the table that says "Student Judges." The student on the far left is holding a score card that reads "7.5" the other three students are not fully showing their cards. There is a teacher standing in front of the...
Show moreThe cartoon shows four students sitting at a long table with a banner on the front of the table that says "Student Judges." The student on the far left is holding a score card that reads "7.5" the other three students are not fully showing their cards. There is a teacher standing in front of the table with legs crossed, hand on his left hip right arm up in the air like he is doing a jig with an apple on his head. The tagline reads "After a full week of testing, students decide to turn the tables and judge their teachers."
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- Title
- Student Relocation Program
- Date Created
- 2000
- Description
-
The cartoon shows Mr. Moody sitting at his desk holding in his hand a pair of Groucho Marx glasses (glasses frames with a funny nose and mustache). There are three kids on the other side of the desk all wearing the Groucho glasses. Mr. Moody says to them, "Congratulations! You are no longer...
Show moreThe cartoon shows Mr. Moody sitting at his desk holding in his hand a pair of Groucho Marx glasses (glasses frames with a funny nose and mustache). There are three kids on the other side of the desk all wearing the Groucho glasses. Mr. Moody says to them, "Congratulations! You are no longer classified disabled. Today you begin a new phase in your life. We don't have enough money for plastic surgery, so we are relocating you to a new school and providing these nifty disguises." The tag line reads, "To address the lingering stigma of disability labeling, Mr. Moody implements the district's new 'Student Relocation Program.'"
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- Title
- Subtle Reminder
- 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…do you?" and another person in the room says "No...I don't either......
Show moreThe 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…do 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."
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- Title
- Successful Inservice Training
- Date Created
- 2000
- Description
-
The cartoon shows a room with a number of people at tables for a workshop. There is an overhead projector and screen at the front of the room. A box on the floor is labeled "Yummy Candy." There is a woman talking to the person who will be doing the workshop. She says, "Everything is set for the...
Show moreThe cartoon shows a room with a number of people at tables for a workshop. There is an overhead projector and screen at the front of the room. A box on the floor is labeled "Yummy Candy." There is a woman talking to the person who will be doing the workshop. She says, "Everything is set for the workshop as you requested. But why 50 pounds of candy?" The presenter replies, "Never underestimate the power of chocolate." The tag line reads, "The real key to successful inservice training." A tag line on side of the cartoon reads, "Inspired by my friends in Iceland."
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- Title
- Superwoman
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
-
This cartoon shows a teacher at her clothes closet and selecting a Superwoman costume (with the classic red S). The tag line under the cartoon reads, "After having successfully taught students with a wide range of characteristics, Ms. Miller decided to adjust her wardrobe to match her teaching...
Show moreThis cartoon shows a teacher at her clothes closet and selecting a Superwoman costume (with the classic red S). The tag line under the cartoon reads, "After having successfully taught students with a wide range of characteristics, Ms. Miller decided to adjust her wardrobe to match her teaching confidence."
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