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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- Title
- Cart Before the Horse
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
-
This cartoon shows a farmer scratching his head and looking confused as he looks at a draft horse hooked to a wagon the wrong way -- with the cart in front of the horse instead of behind it. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Harry persists in putting support services before educational goals...
Show moreThis cartoon shows a farmer scratching his head and looking confused as he looks at a draft horse hooked to a wagon the wrong way -- with the cart in front of the horse instead of behind it. The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Harry persists in putting support services before educational goals and placement."
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- Title
- Classroom Hamster
- 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...
Show moreThis 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."
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- Title
- Cloning (Therapist)
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
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This cartoon shows one educator talking to another who is holding a test tube. The first educator asks, "What's in the test tube?" The other educator replies, "A small skin sample from Mrs. Keegan, she's a great therapist." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Despite the bio-ethical...
Show moreThis cartoon shows one educator talking to another who is holding a test tube. The first educator asks, "What's in the test tube?" The other educator replies, "A small skin sample from Mrs. Keegan, she's a great therapist." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Despite the bio-ethical controversies Maggie favors human cloning."
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- Title
- I Needed… They Gave Me...
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
-
This cartoon shows a person with hands together praying. In a thought bubble the person is thinking, "I needed moral support and they gave me an article to read. I needed an extra pair of hands and they gave a specialist once a month. I needed someone to demonstrate a method and told me I was...
Show moreThis cartoon shows a person with hands together praying. In a thought bubble the person is thinking, "I needed moral support and they gave me an article to read. I needed an extra pair of hands and they gave a specialist once a month. I needed someone to demonstrate a method and told me I was doing a great job. I needed some information and they gave me an instructional assistant." The tag line under the cartoon reads, "Match supports to needs continues to be an elusive experience for Harry."
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- Title
- Name that Discipline
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
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This cartoon shows three parents next to each other standing behind podiums labeled, Parent 1, 2 and 3; behind them is the name of the game show they are playing, "Name that Discipline." Parent number 1 says, "I can name that discipline in one goal!" The show's host says, "OK, Here's you next...
Show moreThis cartoon shows three parents next to each other standing behind podiums labeled, Parent 1, 2 and 3; behind them is the name of the game show they are playing, "Name that Discipline." Parent number 1 says, "I can name that discipline in one goal!" The show's host says, "OK, Here's you next clue: Sally will increase bilateral lip posturing, lip movement and lateralization." The tag line below the cartoon reads, "Having suffered through excessive exposure to professionals, parents look for fun ways of coping."
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- Title
- Remodeling
- Date Created
- 1999
- Description
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The cartoon shows six men all doing different tasks trying to remodel a bathroom and all of them are getting in each others way and making a mess of things. The tag line reads, "If we remodeled bathrooms the way we delivered support services using a specialist-reliant model..."
- Title
- Stair Wars
- Date Created
- 1998
- Description
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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
- Voting Regularities
- 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...
Show moreThis 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."
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