Hayley Smith

Hi, I’m Hayley. “About me? I am me.”

It’s something I’ve said for years — to myself, and to my children — alongside another: “embrace the weird.” as they are proudly my favourite weirdos.

I’m a late-diagnosed adult with ADHD and a mum to three grown children. Reflecting back, Motherhood masked much of my identity for years, while also amplifying other areas of my ADHD. As those roles have shifted, I’ve found myself rediscovering who I am beneath them, learning and well, every day’s a school day.

For much of my life, I was labelled weird, quirky, loud, hyper, talk too much and not feeling I quite fit the expected mould, struggling to sit still, concentrate, or think in conventional ways (which I always assumed was just because I’m left-handed).

What was rarely understood was the yo-yo effect: moving from being positive, bubbly, chatty, and enthusiastic to periods of shutdown and burnout that were quickly labelled as “depression”. When burnout eventually hit, it was deeply misunderstood. I was told, “you’re not your bubbly self” “it’s not like you not to be smiling or laughing” or “what have you got to be depressed about?” My experiences were often dismissed as anxiety, depression, or simply “normal” for a mum of three — rather than recognised as undiagnosed ADHD and burnout.

When people have told me I’m “not normal”, my response has always been, “define normal.”

My diagnosis is helping me make sense of that “odd” , reframe those experiences, highlighting how easily ADHD and particularly in women and parents, can be missed, mislabelled, or minimised. It also shaped my belief that people don’t just need signposting or explanations; they need practical, physical, and compassionate support that reflects real life.

I’m passionate about improving understanding of how ADHD affects identity, wellbeing, and everyday functioning. Advocating for a different element of lived-experience-led community-led support that doesn’t yet exist within many current systems. And importantly celebrating the awesomeness that comes with thinking differently.

As an ADHD UK Ambassador, I hope to amplify real voices, challenge stigma, promote acceptance, and raise awareness of both the challenges and the awesomeness of ADHD. Not despite our differences, but because of them. Every one of us is unique, different in our own way. And even if you don’t fully understand, acceptance and kindness still matter — to ourselves, and to others.

@hayleyls2