The Cutest Comic of ADHD Awareness Month

Humor is part of what makes Get up! so unique. While Clay and Kyle’s neurodifferences certainly impact their lives, they are neither a driving force nor a source of concern. Comics (or stories more broadly) featuring neurodivergent characters going on fun adventures are still quite rare. At first glance, the only graphic novel Sharp could come up with with inspiring imagery was Space boywhich featured a character whose synesthesia was “depicted so beautifully” that it “made (Sharpe) love the story even more.” Still, Space boy it’s not so much a fun, feel-good game as it is “a strong sense of hope, even as it deals with trauma and other heavy topics.”

Seven million children in the United States are diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Many children (including Sharp, who didn’t realize she might have ADHD until she went to college) go undiagnosed. Because ADHD doesn’t magically go away when a child turns 18, this means millions of adults live with it and need support too.

Stories like Get up! play a vital role in spreading awareness and compassion. They help neurodivergent readers see that “having to go at your own pace is never a bad thing,” while neurotypical readers better understand the people they know (or may know in the future) who see and experience the world differently. -different. .

“There is as much diversity within a neurodivergent population as there is within a neurotypical population; this is part of the idea of ​​STAND UP!” says Sharp. “Each of us discovers our own scene, our own values.”