CEA launches new epilepsy comic book for children

The Canadian Epilepsy Alliance Launches A New Epilepsy Comic Book As Part of BuskerFest Festival Activities

The Canadian Epilepsy Alliance (CEA) is thrilled to announce the launch of a new comic series designed to educate children about the most common neurological disorder in Canada, epilepsy. The Medikidz Explain Epilepsy comic series tells a fictional story based on the experiences of 14-year-old Jack, who is navigating middle school while living with epilepsy.

"Despite the fact that epilepsy affects 1 in 100 Canadians, there is still so much misinformation and lack of awareness out there," says Gail Dempsey, President of the Canadian Epilepsy Alliance. "Addressing the information gaps about epilepsy is key and by educating children in a fun way that resonates, like with the comic series, we can close that gap."

Authored by doctors and medical writers, the book's content addresses the mechanics, diagnosis, and treatment of epilepsy and is peer-reviewed by leading medical professionals and endorsed by the Canadian epilepsy community.

The Medikidz are five energetic, larger-than-life superheroes on a mission to help young people better understand epilepsy. Chi, Pump, Skinderella, Axon and Gastro take children on a journey through Mediland - an outerspace planet shaped just like the human body to explain the diagnosis, investigation and treatment of this neurological condition.

"Children absorb information so quickly and the new epilepsy comic book provides great background on the disorder in a colourful and easy to understand format," says Dr. Cecil Hahn, Paediatric Neurologist at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. "This is a great tool to educate not only those children living with the condition and their peers, but their parents too."

Marianne Cizmar-Shapiro explains how challenging it was for her son Adam, when we was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 12, "this is difficult stuff for even parents to grasp and the comic has a way of engaging children with easy to understand text and colourful illustrations. In our situation, Adam went from a relatively average childhood to suddenly being coddled and protected, the comic book would have been a great tool to help explain what was happening – this will be an important tool for children just like Adam who are learning about epilepsy."