1. Please tell us about the inspiration/general background of Button Pusher.
So BUTTON PUSHER was a direct response and follow-up to my previous book, Raised on Ritalin. That book was much more academic and research-based. It was really kind of like the homework for BUTTON PUSHER. I had tried to convey everything I’d learned about ADHD, its history, its treatment, etc., in one volume because I felt like there was so much to know about it that gets lost when ADHD is brought up in a general context. And also because I was surprised by a lot of what I learned. I was really proud of what I accomplished with that book but recognized that finding a way to present that info and experience to a younger, and broader, audience would be a good thing.
More generally: I’ve been making comics most of my life, for myself, for clients or publishers, about all kinds of things. When my parents divorced in my early 20’s I found copies of my childhood medical records which recounted my diagnosis of ADD and treatment. Finding those documents made sense of a lot of personal and family stuff for me and I knew I would use it for something one day, but didn’t know what exactly.
Many years down the road, after I was re-diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and had started a family, I started to worry about my daughter because she acted a lot like I did as a child. I wanted to feel equipped with as much info about ADHD as I could in case she had ADHD and needed treatment. I started doing research casually and then that turned into Raised on Ritalin, which led to Button Pusher.
2. I noticed you include childhood artwork in the back -- please tell us a bit about your creative process and the message you hope to share with young creators.
Specific to Button Pusher I included that art in the back section because my art-making was something I talked about in the book. I wanted to show kids that when I was younger I made art just like they might be making. It might help kids to see that, just like an interest in sports or science, an interest in art can lead to a creative career.
More broadly, my process for making comics has been more or less the same for a while now: I start to outline ideas in a sketchbook or text document. Sometimes those ideas start with doodling a character, or thinking about something that happened in my life. Once I feel like I’ve got a good handle on the story and the characters I’ll start pulling at threads of the outline and turning them into scenes. I tend to think of the scenes like puzzle pieces: each scene is, generally, conveying a specific point or goal in the advancement of the story and plot. Thinking about scenes that way lets me move them around if needed, or even delete them if they end up being extraneous. From there I do a full rough-draft version of the book. That’s just stick figures and dialogue. That helps me make sure everything is working before moving on to doing the finished artwork, lettering, and coloring.
3. Any advice or recommendation for future/current teachers who read your book and want to share it with students?
I wanted people to see firsthand what it was like to grow up with ADHD. I hope it helps ADHD kids now know they aren’t alone and see that it’s possible to grow up and lead a “normal” life. But I also hope it helps non-ADHDers see how kids like me aren’t just lazy or troublemakers. To know that there is something going on there beyond our control and often our ability to overcome those obstacles are not necessarily within our controls (parent or family situation, whether they have access to healthcare, etc.). I also hope it helps people see beyond the caricature of ADHD that is too often presented in popular culture and media - it’s a much more serious and broadly reaching problem (personally and socially) than most realize.
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