How do you make invisible struggles visible? (Kate Hammer’s story)

It’s one thing to wonder if you have ADHD. It’s another to read how your loved ones see it in you. 

Host Laura Key talks with writer, director, and performer Kate Hammer, who was born in Canada and now lives in Scotland. Kate shares her experience navigating the U.K.’s ADHD evaluation process, which includes personal letters from family and friends, and the complex emotions it brought up. 

She also discusses her short film, Bear, a surreal, funny, and poignant look at how ADHD can shadow your every move. In the film, a woman on her way to a job interview is followed by a bumbling bear — clumsy, loud, and impossible to ignore. The Bear represents ADHD in all its disruptive, intrusive glory. Kate talks about why she chose to visualize ADHD this way, how humor helps her process, and what it means to turn something invisible into something you can’t ignore.

Related resources

• Kate’s short film Bear trailer
• Kate’s full short film Bear (Password: BossJude)

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(01:03) The UK ADHD evaluation process

(07:26) What ADHD traits cause Kate shame and guilt? 

(08:44) Kate’s short film Bear

(16:58) Validating the challenges of ADHD through her short film

(21:27) Kate’s ADHD aha! moment(s)

(23:05) Outro and credits

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Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.

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