Our latest Spotlight on projects and people within the Graphic Medicine international community focuses on a new graphic memoir from Jason Robert LeClair about being a late-diagnosed ADHD adult.
About the Work
Fifteen years ago, at the age of thirty-six, I had my first diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It would take that decade and a half for me to feel comfortable enough to approach it as an artist. There was something about turning fifty that pushed me to look at what it is like to be a late-diagnosed ADHD adult. As an educator for the last twenty-six years, it was time for me to come out as a neurodivergent individual to my students, colleagues, and administration. The OVER(….) project started in March of 2025 as a way inform the public that the condition does exist in adults, many of whom lived for decades or are still struggling without a diagnosis.
The myths about ADHD, particularly in regard to my fellow Gen-Xers, are evasive and dismissive. “Isn’t everyone a little ADHD?” “That’s only in kids. You grow out of that.” “You’re so organized and on top of everything, you can’t possibly be ADHD.”
Comments like this are what I’ve heard all of my adult life. It’s now that I am recalling and reliving my own history through this project, I realize how my symptoms’ effects dictated my development.
OVER(….) includes characters that are manifestations of ADHD symptoms such as Captain Hyperfocus, the Impusive Imp, and the Rage Beast. The graphic memoir in progress is a way to express how my undiagnosed younger self formed the ADHD adult and the challenges that came with managing the disorder in everyday life minus the support I now have.
OVER(….) is a journey through the post-diagnosis years of my life reflecting upon the formative situations through which I lived as oversenstive, overemotional, overreactionary, overwhelmed, and just OVER(….).
About the Creator
Jason Robert LeClair, M.A. is an illustrator and cartoonist living in Rhode Island. He earned his Master’s in Art Education from the University of Florida. He is also an honors graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts with his BFA in Media and Performing Arts. A multi-faceted artist, he is equally comfortable working in pencil, ink, digital and analog paint. Mr. LeClair lives life as an illustrator, author, and educator. His illustration credits include several magazine spots for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Pawtucket Public Library, and the RI Library Association. He has designed sets for over two decades at a variety of venues in Boston, Hartford, and Rhode Island, and has won awards at gallery exhibits for art education.
Relevant Links
https://www.cartoonsandcreatures.com/comics-and-graphic-novel.html#/
Portfolio: cartoonsandcreatures.com
Arts Education: arts-core.com
Instagram: @jasonrobertleclair
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