A 2025 research report conducted by StepChange, which surveyed neurodivergent participants living with problem debt, revealed that 98% of respondents believed their neurodivergence had some negative impact on how they managed their money. For the majority of respondents, this coincided with mental health issues like depression (58%) and anxiety (70%).

Without adequate support, those who are particularly vulnerable to money management issues are at highest risk of debt, which can spiral into a vicious circle of trying to stay afloat.

This in turn can lead to feelings of failure, poor self-esteem and a sub-par quality of life.

What the law says about neurodivergence

Under the Equality Act, businesses have a legal duty not to treat disabled service-users unfavourably. Where a provision, criterion or practice puts disabled people at a substantial disadvantage compared with those who are not disabled, services providers must take reasonable steps to avoid that disadvantage. This duty is anticipatory:

“7.1 Service providers should therefore not wait until a disabled person wants to use a service that they provide before they give consideration to their duty to make reasonable adjustments. They should anticipate the requirements of disabled people and the adjustments that may have to be made for them. Failure to anticipate the need for an adjustment may create additional expense, or render it too late to comply with the duty to make the adjustment. Furthermore, it may not in itself provide a defence to a claim of a failure to make a reasonable adjustment.”

In addition, neurodivergent service users often meet the Financial Conduct Authority’s definition of a vulnerable customer: someone who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to harm, particularly when a firm is not acting with appropriate levels of care. To ensure neurodivergent customers are treated fairly, and with care, financial service providers must:

• • Understand and listen to neurodivergent needs.
• • Ensure staff have the skills and capability to recognise and respond to them.
• • Offer flexible and inclusive product design, customer service and communications.
• • Monitor progress and make improvements when gaps start to show.

A shortfall in awareness and understanding of neurodivergence coupled with the legal “grey area” around flexibility and reasonable adjustments means systems and processes are not optimised for all cognitive needs. As a result, some financial services are falling short of their obligations.

How executive dysfunction affects our relationship with money

Money management is a skill that many of us are not taught in early life. This can make financial literacy a challenge for any of us, regardless of our cognitive profile. For neurodivergent people, these difficulties can be compounded by executive function deficits.

Executive function is the set of cognitive processes that run in our brain’s “command centre”, the pre-frontal cortex. We use our executive function to plan ahead, organise tasks, be flexible, problem-solve, regulate our thoughts, emotions and behaviours, and generally keep on top of life.

Here is a list of common executive function impairments can affect financial management:

Planning and sequencing

Many neurodivergent people find it difficult to plan, organise, and prioritise. This is linked to information processing, time blindness, and struggling to appreciate the consequences of an action. In financial terms, this means that budgeting and planning and tracking incomings and outgoings can be overwhelming – especially when an unexpected event or payment crops up. Some autistic people thrive on order, routine, and predictability. This can be a disadvantage when managing product plans or finances, as making a switch to a cheaper option isn’t always easy.

Impulse control and emotional dysregulation

Impulsive spending and addictive behaviours (particularly in ADHD), are driven by the need for an instant dopamine hit for our altered reward pathways. Struggles to regulate our emotions can also lead to seeking comfort and relief in behaviours, like shopping, rather than actions. Special interests and hyperfixation on new hobbies can lead to unplanned overspending if uncontrolled. These planning and impulsivity shortfalls also make it easy for us to fall victim to “buy now, pay later” store card and credit card offers that can be taken out on a whim.

Working memory

A lot of personal financial management revolves around having an adequate working memory – something that many neurodivergent people struggle with. It can be difficult to remember to make payments, or remember that an automatic payment is going to be taken out of your bank account. Even regular monthly payments often leave me blindsided.

Concentration and multi-tasking

Neurodivergent people concentrate at different levels. It can sometimes be “all or nothing”. This inconsistency means potentially losing focus on paperwork or focussing more intently than necessary and losing sight of what actually needs to be done. Concentration deficits make multitasking a challenge, and this can bleed into our financial life. For example, it can be harder to benefit from perks and interest rates because that means having to manage and track several bank accounts at the same time, which we can’t all do.

Communication

Lengthy texts and poorly presented information make it harder for anyone to read, process and understand what you’re signing up for, let alone brains with additional executive function challenges. This makes it easier for people to be duped into disadvantageous loans and credit cards. If someone is struggling to implement financial advice, it could mean it hasn’t been presented in a neuroinclusive format.

Task avoidance and decision making

The abundance of information that needs to be processed when making financial decisions coupled with our communication and concentration issues often lends to overwhelm from information overload. Too many decisions and options can make us feel paralysed. One reaction to this is to bury our heads in the sand and avoid some tasks altogether – especially the stressful or boring ones that don’t light up our brains.

Sensory sensitivities

Loud, busy environments with music, or background noise, clacking keyboards and tinny, screechy hold music on phone calls are unbearable for people with sensory sensitivities. This isn’t a case of not liking the surrounding sights and sounds. For those with sensory issues, it’s unbearable, and it makes it almost impossible to concentrate and focus on what is going on.

Shame and stigma

The lack of understanding around neurodivergent issues means most neurodivergent people have lived with stigma and shame for most of their lives. When processes that weren’t designed for our brains don’t work for us, we’re often told to “try harder”, or encouraged to suppress our true selves in an attempt to make it work. All this does is lead to feelings of inadequacy. If I cannot concentrate on the small print, it’s not because I am lazy and stupid. It’s because I have a cognitive impairment. I could consume it if it was presented to me in an accessible way. So many people are living with stigma, embarrassment and shame over their own financial management capabilities when, in reality, it is these poorly designed processes that allow people to fail.

Disclosure: A barrier to neuroinclusion

Lack of disclosure is one of the main challenges organisations face when trying to support neurodivergent customers. When people decide not to disclose their neurodivergence, there’s normally a reason behind it. It could be:

Inflexibility or absence of reasonable adjustments (what’s the point in disclosing if I won’t get adequate help?).
Lack of empathy or acknowledgement (sends people down a shame spiral/reinforces feelings of inadequacy).
The belief that their neurodivergence is irrelevant (if it won’t make a difference, why say it?).
Perceived response. Negative experiences stick in people’s minds. If someone has encountered an issue in the past, they’re less likely to do it again for fear of experiencing the same hurt (this is linked to Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria – a common experience among neurodivergent people, particularly those with ADHD).
Or simply that, after a lifetime of battling, it simply doesn’t occur to them to volunteer the information unless somebody asks.

81% of Step Change’s interviewed participants who disclosed their neurodivergence said that they were not offered any helpful support after their disclosure, with some reporting that their disclosure led to negative experiences, like feeling dismissed. When people don’t understand the struggles neurodivergent people face, stigma and stereotypes multiply, and lack of empathy divides.

If you already offer support for neurodivergent customers, shout it from the rooftops. Most neurodivergent people are so unaccustomed to receiving support and understanding, they will not think to seek it out. Public-facing materials and support will raise awareness and hopefully increase disclosure rates – maximising your efforts at helping the people who need it.

Neuroinclusion-friendly adjustments for better financial services

Taking different cognitive profiles into account when designing your processes, systems and in-house training will bring big rewards in customer satisfaction, user experience and brand perception in the long run.

Here are some tips for incorporating neuroinclusion in your service offerings:

Disclaimer: Everyone’s different, with their own preferred methods of communicating and interacting with the world. These are my insights and ideas based on my own experience, but I don’t speak for all neurodivergent people.

Flexible lines of communication

When communicating with anyone, you should be empathetic, clear and direct.
Ask people about their preferred communication channel and let them know if there are some circumstances where a different channel will need to be used (e.g. communication may be by email but contracts sent by post).
Offer written summaries or transcripts to follow up phone conversations, live chats, meetings or appointments.
Be flexible. Some prefer to communicate in writing, so they have the opportunity to process information in their own time. I prefer to have everything via email so I have a digital record I can search through (physical letters get tossed onto the “Open later” pile and eventually forgotten about), but I don’t speak for everyone. Some people find digital communication complex and distracting. The option to pick up a phone and call someone might be more appealing (if that’s the case, it’s a good idea to ask them what time – I don’t communicate effectively first thing in the morning because I have to wait until my meds have kicked in before I can focus).

Customer service for neurodivergence

Many neurodivergent people suffer from low self-esteem due to ongoing stigma that comes from living in a world that wasn’t built for their brains. Sometimes that means they will be afraid or intimidated to ask you for help. Encourage customer-facing staff to be calm, helpful, and approachable. First-hand experience is not a prerequisite for acknowledging a customer’s difficulties and taking practical steps to address them.

Be respectful of different communication and sensory needs.
Ask, don’t assume, so you can offer appropriate assistance.
A patient, empathetic and non-judgmental attitude towards neurodivergent customers will instill them with confidence that you are providing them with appropriate service and support.
Address adults as equals. This may seem obvious but many disabled service users report being made to feel like a child as soon as they disclose their need for support.

Targets: A false economy

Targets are the enemy of effective communication and will cost you more in the long run. If a customer service agent is under pressure to deal with a certain number of enquiries per shift, they’re less likely to take the time to consider the needs of the customer, speak slowly and clearly, choose their words carefully or provide additional information if needed. Pressure, staff frustration and rushed interactions not only make for an unpleasant customer experience. They increase the risk of miscommunication and the need for more phone calls to repair the damage.
If a customer needs to retain or find information, let them know as early as possible so they can grab a pen, open their diary, and so on.
Allow customers to communicate in their own time.
Tell them that there is no rush.
Pay particular attention when discussing numbers and dates. If you are unable to send these by email, suggest the customer writes them down. Read them slowly and ask the customer to read them back to check that they have noted them correctly.

Whether in a physical space, or in an app, clear navigation and signage helps people with executive function challenges find their way around your services and systems independently. This is particularly important when dealing with numbers and dates, which are likely to be a particular challenge for many of your neurodivergent service-users.

Physical spaces

Set aside a quiet space for meeting with customers, away from flashing images, loud sounds, and clashing colours. This will reduce the risk of sensory overload and make it easier for the customer to retain and convey information.
Provide pens, paper and phone chargers.
Make sure toilets are easy to find and drinking water is available.

Check your tech’s user journey

Intuitive user environments reduce cognitive load and anxiety, meaning people can preserve their precious mental energy for the task at hand.
User interfaces should be mindful of sensory processing differences. Information and processes should be clearly outlined and easy to understand and follow, with any advice or jobs broken down into step-by-step tasks.
Go on the customer journey yourself, so you can try out how it works. The smallest details matter: can the user come back to the form or does it time out? Can they log in easily? Can they see everything they need on one screen or do they have to memorise information from one screen to the next? Are the formats used fit-for-purpose (e.g. an online form versus a non-editable PDF).

Extra support, not an afterthought

Your extra support team should be sufficiently trained and resourced to offer genuine help to those who need it. If you can, assign a dedicated customer service agent per customer.
Calls received by the extra support team should never be diverted to general call handlers.

When taking a call, extra support staff should:
Clearly identify themselves by name and department
Take responsibility for resolving the customer’s issue, including liaising with other departments if necessary.
Be very clear about next steps and check back to ensure the issue was successfully resolved if they do need to transfer the caller to a different department.
Ask the customer if they need any additional help and offer additional services/resources if useful. These may include budgeting, form filling, debt and spending trackers or simply organising check ins and reminders to aid people with executive function difficulties.

Why lived experience should be a factor in your neuroinclusion strategy

Improving your neuroinclusion efforts won’t just benefit your neurodivergent customers and users, but everyone. After all, have you ever heard of anything being too clear or too user-friendly? However, those who normally access these services with ease probably won’t notice, because the changes aren’t making as much of an impact on their experience. It’s a bit like replacing a few steps with a ramp. It’s easier for everyone, but you don’t notice the steps until you have trouble going up or down them yourself. That’s why getting insights based on lived experience of neurodiversity and executive dysfunction are essential when creating functional neuroinclusive systems and processes that work for everyone.

Want to discuss how my lived experience and expert insights can help your extra support and UX teams?