Does debt feel different if you’re not neuro-typical?

New research from StepChange in conjunction with QA research, supported by Equifax, sheds valuable new insight on how to make sure that neurodivergent people get the right kind of support and help with debt. Because everyone’s different, it’s important that financial services and debt advice providers take account of what works best to deliver good services and good results for all.

One in seven of us is neurodivergent. That means the way our brains work – and the strengths and challenges that come with it – naturally vary. These differences shape every part of life, including how we experience, understand and manage money. Debt is no exception.

The new research was based on 278 survey responses and 30 in-depth interviews with people with autism, ADHD or both. 97% felt that being neurodivergent made it more difficult to manage debt, at least sometimes. Reasons included difficulties with some communications from organisations such as lenders, and sometimes a lack of flexibility from them to adapt to neurodivergent customer needs. Other common experiences included personal challenges such as impulsiveness or a difficulty in organising and tracking things like budgets and payment deadlines.

These concerns extended to how people experienced debt advice, too. Only one in three disclosed their neurodivergence to their debt advice service provider, and even among those who did, only one in five felt it helped. Many felt overwhelmed by accessing debt advice, with common issues relating to form-filling, retaining focus to get to the finish on lengthy tasks, and information overload.

At StepChange, we’re committed to making our services accessible and effective for every client. That means turning insight into action. We’re using these findings to identify practical improvements that will help more people succeed. Inclusive design has been at the heart of our approach for some time, but this new research gives us powerful guidance on how to better support neurodivergent clients and ensure they achieve positive outcomes.

For example, we’re making sure that all our staff who support our clients by phone or online are trained to understand and adapt to the needs of our clients and to build in flexibility such as taking clients through at their own pace, reducing the risk of overload or overwhelm.

We’re also building in as many ways as possible for people for interact with our service, and to get gentle reminders of what to do next at appropriate points, to make the overall process less daunting for anyone who needs support with remembering to take action or completing lengthier tasks.

When support systems are designed without considering cognitive difference, we know that people may disengage or drop out altogether. So it’s absolutely incumbent on us as a debt advice provider (as well as all other financial service providers) to make sure we step up and provide services in such a way that they fit the needs of the individual, not just a one-size-fits-all that fails to recognise our human differences.

To find out more about the research, visit www.stepchange.org/policy-and-research/neurodiversity.aspx.