Growing evidence suggests neurodivergent people may face an increased risk of housing insecurity and homelessness.
One study found that 12% of people facing homelessness showed “strong evidence” of autistic traits – a significant proportion compared to the 1.1% of the general population diagnosed with autism.
Recognition within homelessness services
While research into the relationship between autism, ADHD, neurodivergence and homelessness is still developing, discussion within the homelessness sector is already growing around the barriers neurodivergent people can face when accessing support, maintaining accommodation, and navigating complex systems.
Homeless Link, the membership body for homelessness services in England, has highlighted some of the common misconceptions that impact the effectiveness of support for neurodivergent people facing homelessness.
These include the idea that neurodivergence sits on a simple linear spectrum. Instead, Homeless Link suggest it could be described as a ‘spiky profile’, reflecting the fact that people can have different strengths and needs across areas such as communication, attention, and processing information and may experience more than one neurodivergent condition.
What we’re seeing at Oasis Community Housing
At Oasis Community Housing, frontline teams are increasingly recognising the complexity of these challenges in practice.
In the last year, over 8% of the people Oasis Community Housing has supported are in the process of receiving or have a neurodivergent diagnosis. However, this figure likely reflects only part of the picture, as neurodivergent needs are not always formally diagnosed or disclosed.
Alex Laing, Head of Programmes at Oasis Community Housing, comments: “Many of the people we support are dealing with overlapping challenges, from engaging with services and navigating housing systems to sustaining a tenancy while also managing complex needs.
“We know the percentage of people we’re seeing with neurodivergence is higher than 8% however, trying to progress a diagnosis or understand neurodivergence at the same time as dealing with homelessness often means this information isn’t volunteered to us – trying to find a safe place to stay is, understandably, the thought that is front and centre of their minds.
“There’s a growing recognition across the sector that we need to better understand the scale and nature of the link between neurodivergence and homelessness, alongside continuing to develop more inclusive and responsive support that meets people where they are.”
Improving support for neurodivergent people
With the emergence of this issue, Homeless Link has developed points to practical steps homelessness services can take to improve accessibility; including adapting environments to support clearer communication, offering more flexibility around appointments and administrative processes, and taking time to clearly explain rules and expectations.
Organisations across the sector have developed toolkits wherein they summarise their recommendations for working with individuals with autism, ADHD, neurodivergence and homelessness – in the hope of better supporting people to take up and keep their housing.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Corinne Lewis-Ward for inspiring this post – saying its part of the reason she’s fundraising for our work, in this year’s CEO Sleepout Alnwick. You can find out more about Corinne’s fundraising efforts here.
The 12% of people facing homelessness showed “strong evidence” of autistic traits is taken from this study: The prevalence of autistic traits in a homeless population – Alasdair Churchard, Morag Ryder, Andrew Greenhill, William Mandy, 2019
For professionals, here are the toolkits referenced above: