Significant Limitations for Silly Daddy

Ink pens and markers on 8.5" x 5.5" paper by Joe Chiappetta 2011

A man sits out in the open and admits, "I have significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior."

A woman kneels beside him in attempted understanding and says, "I see. You must have an intellectual disability." The woman obviously has a background in disability awareness and knows the current definition of the term "intellectual disability."

However, the man explains, "No, actually, I just have two teenagers."

I used this comic in a presentation on intellectual disabilities for the State of Illinois. The intent of the illustration was to help people remember the definition of intellectual disability in a non-boring manner. If you think the characters in this scene look like Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz, you're close. I actually drew these characters from a high school production of the musical, "The Wiz." Of course, both musicals are based off of L. Frank Baum's story, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" from 1900.

On a disability side note, both of Dorothy and the Lion's companions in the Wizard of Oz have non-apparent disabilities; The Scarecrow did not have a brain, and the Tin Woodman did not have a heart.