One of Pilkey’s core missions in his writing is to set a positive example for neurodiverse children and encourage them to be confident and creative. Pilkey is very open about his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia diagnoses and even includes them in his “About the Author” blurb at the end of Dog Man.

In interviews and in his writing, Pilkey claims his neurodivergence proudly: “ADHD wasn’t a term when I was a kid. ADHD was called ‘Extreme Hyperactivity Disorder.’ But I don’t call it Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I call it Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Delightfulness. I think of ADHD and dyslexia as my superpowers that help me to write the kinds of books I do” (Butwell, Scot. “Dav Pilkey Said Something Every Neurodiverse Person Should Hear.” Medium, 2021).

Harold and George are autobiographical characters who represent two sides of Pilkey’s personality. While Harold is shy, artistic, and sensitive, George is outgoing, impulsive, and talkative. Pilkey has stated that both characters have ADHD and consider it a “badge of honor.” They both share typical qualities of childhood ADHD, such as creativity, hyperfocus, and behavioral issues.

In later installments of Dog Man, Pilkey introduces a robot named 80-HD “who doesn’t communicate the same way everyone else does.