Tyler is a very active boy, in mind and in body. He is smart, his mind racing ahead of itself but not connecting with consequences. On the way to school one day in the bus with his friends, he pulls out a gift from his grandfather – a small pocket knife. A thought flashes in his mind. What would it feel like to cut the bus seat he is sitting on. And so he acts on the thought – only to suddenly be facing the fallout. The bus driver is mad. The school principal is mad, and so are his parents.

Nobody can understand why Tyler did it, at least of all himself. He just thought of it and did it. Again and again he behaves this way. In class he gets up from his desk time and time again. He draws when he should be listening to his teacher. He talks to students around him while they are working or listening. Adults all around him can see that he is not only smart, and a talented artist but that he needs some help.

Talking to experts, hanging out with others with the same challenges, working with doctors and teachers and finally considering medication is a journey Tyler takes with his parents. An added complication is his father’s volatile temper, and the realisation that he might be struggling with the same challenges but was never helped like Tyler as a boy.

As Tyler grows with his support network around him, he learns to control some of his disruptiveness and actions and starts making decisions for himself for his future.

A autobiographical graphic novel, Button Pusher shares the journey of the author-illustrator from age 8 to 16. The panels are in full colour, and the font on the smaller side. This is a fascinating insight into the mind of a boy struggling with attention deficit disorder, and the consequences from it.

It’s interspersed with separate sections on ADHD, the human brain, emotions, actions and more, along with letters from health professionals at each step of Tyler’s diagnosis and treatment. Having Tyler’s father dealing with the same struggle shows that it is not Tyler’s fault or indeed his parents, but a genetic makeup.

Reading Button Pusher will definitely help anyone reading it to better understand someone they know with ADHD, and the constant challenges they face – just because their brain is ‘wired’ differently.

Author / Illustrator – Tyler Page

Age – 10+

Graphic Novel

(2022, Macmillan, St Martin’s Press, ADHD, Attention Deficit Disorder, School, Family, Fighting parents, Arguments, Memoir, Autobiographical, Graphic Novel, Specialists, Therapists, Counsellors, Health professionals, Doctors, Diagnosis, Brain Development, Inattention, Compulsive, Revealing story, Consequences, Genetics)