Supporting learning and understanding at work

Cognitive impairment can affect how some one learns, understands and communicates. An employee may need support in one or more of these areas. There are a range of things you can do to support employees with cognitive impairment. 

See also our article about supporting problem solving, concentration and memory at work.

Cognitive differences at work

Cognitive impairment can include an intellectual or learning disability or an acquired brain injury. A cognitive impairment might affect how a person:

• communicates
• learns skills
• understands social cues.

By giving your employee the right support, you can help them feel less stressed, more confident and able to perform better at work.

Understanding the different ways people learn

People learn things in different ways. People often have a preferred way of learning based on their personal experiences.

There are three basic learning styles:

• Visual – learning through seeing, you could use a diagram to explain something.
• Auditory – learning through hearing you could read out instructions.
• Tactile or kinaesthetic – learning through touching or moving, your employee may work alongside you, doing the same task.

It’s important to keep these different styles in mind when developing training programs and training staff.

Making workplace adjustments to support your staff

Think about how you share information

People with a cognitive impairment may have some difficulty with language. They may not have strong verbal communication skills. Think about the way you share and organise information. How you present information can affect how much the employee understands and remembers. You could also provide extra support and instructions in different ways.

Using active learning

Some employees might learn better with active learning. Active learning means learning through doing things rather than listening to someone talk or reading a manual. Active learning can include role-plays, demonstrations, team activities, hands-on doing or games.

Tips for training and giving instructions

To help your employees understand and follow instructions, you can:

• make sure you include regular breaks during training sessions, and time for new employees to walk around to explore the workplace
• give instructions in a quiet area with less distractions
• keep verbal instructions short and simple
• show or give instructions in the order that the employee needs to do the individual tasks
• check the employee has understood by asking them to show you, or put into their own words what you said
• give instructions in different ways, possibly more than once. For example, you can role play or show the instructions. You can then give the employee time to practice the task, and give them feedback
• keep written information short, and break down tasks or processes into smaller steps
• give the employee task charts or cards that they can look at, to remember instructions
• let employees use a whiteboard for drawing symbols or pictures they can use to later to make sense of new information
• include team activities to build up understanding
• set the employee up with a buddy for extra support, especially while learning new skills or tasks.

Understanding industry and technical information

To help employees understand industry-specific or technical information, you can:

• create a glossary of technical terms and acronyms you use regularly
• offer employees more than one induction training session, or other training to build on the initial training
• rewrite detailed information so it’s clear for someone with little technical knowledge or industry experience
• avoid jargon where possible, and use bullet points, large print and colour coded text
• when the employee is starting on a new task, make sure they work with a co-worker who can role model steps in that task
• for factory or production employees, use models of the product at various stages of production so the employee can then compare the models to their own work.

Supporting people to communicate

Some people may know what they want to say, but have trouble ‘getting the words out’.

To help employees, who have trouble communicating and expressing themselves, you can:

• provide speech generating devices, products that can help communication using signs, gestures, pictures, tactile feeling boards, real objects and printed words, may help
• provide tools such as graphic organisers, allowing people with intellectual disability or learning impairment to communicate through pictures rather than words
• give the employee extra time to talk
• ask the employee to repeat what they have said, if needed, instead of pretending you understood
• use index cards with instructions, rather than verbal instructions.

Helping employees understand social situations

Understanding a person’s verbal, and nonverbal behaviour and actions is important in social settings like the workplace. We listen to what is said, the tone of voice, body language, gestures and facial expressions when someone is communicating.

If people struggle to understand social cues, they may miss things like:

• sarcasm or joking – some people may take what is said literally or as fact
• nonverbal communication or cues – some people may not pick up facial and body language.

People can improve their social skills with the right strategies and support.  It’s important to respect that people have the right to be themselves whilst respecting others.

To help employees who need support with social situations, you may like to:

• role play to show suitable responses in different workplace situations, giving the employee time to practice for themselves – always remember to give constructive feedback
• recognise when employees show improvement – for example, let them know how well they are getting along with their co-workers
• offer team rewards for achievements to motivate everyone to work towards an inclusive workplace
• a psychologist or counsellor may be able to help employees develop social understanding.

Where to get more support

Australian Government employment service providers like Disability Employment Services (DES) can support people with disability and their employers. This includes coaching, mentoring and support on the job. To find a DES provider near you, go to our list of DES providers.

A cognition and communication specialist or speech pathologist may also be able to help with verbal communication in the workplace. For more information visit Speech Pathology Australia.

Easy English interpreters may be able to help a person with a cognitive impairment to better understand written material. They can break down complex information, explain it or change it into simple language, without jargon or technical terms.