1. Cognitive Impairments in the Workplace Melanie Whetzel, M. A., CBIS
Ask JAN
Cognitive Impairments in the Workplace
Melanie Whetzel, M. A., CBIS
Lead Consultant, Cognitive/Neurological Team
Sarah Small, M.S., CRC
Consultant, Cognitive/Neurological Team

2. Common Cognitive Impairments
Alzheimer’s/Dementia
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Autism
Brain Injury
Developmental/Intellectual Disability
Learning Disabilities
Mental Health Impairments
Sleep Disorders
Stroke

3. Limitations Concentration Memory Reading Organization Writing
Time Management
Coworker Interaction
Working Effectively
Attendance
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
Spelling

4. Disclosure
Example: An applicant for a school psychologist position had several late afternoon interviews that she felt had gone badly. She was scattered and not at her best at that time of day.

5. Solution: The applicant is able to focus and pay better attention in the morning hours and feels her responses to questions will be better thought out in an early interview. If there are no interview slots available in the morning, she may need to disclose in order to request an early time slot.

6. Seeking Medical Information
Example: An employee with a learning disability excelled on the job for years, until the job changed enough that he required extensive training. He asked for an accommodation, and the employer required medical documentation. The employee had no documentation and was at a loss of what to do.

7. Solution: JAN recommended several solutions
Solution: JAN recommended several solutions. The first one was to ask for temporary accommodations to assist him in the training while he was exploring/ getting the testing completed. He was referred to vocational rehabilitation for assistance, as well as a local university. The employer can provide temporary accommodations as a good faith effort while the employee is obtaining the required documentation.

9. Modifying Policies
Example: A college professor who had incurred a traumatic brain injury needed to do office work in the mornings when she was most alert and best able to concentrate.

10. Solution: She was accommodated by scheduling departmental meetings and classes she taught after 11:00 am so that she could have uninterrupted morning hours to get her planning, studying, and administrative duties done.

11. Completing Job Tasks
Example: A janitorial worker was having difficulty remembering and completing all the tasks he had to do in a day’s work. This was causing him to receive poor performance ratings.

12. Solution: With the help of his job coach, the employer trained the employee using an app to demonstrate in visual form step-by-step directions to complete each task.

13. Communication
Example: An employee who was having difficulty performing her job functions, even right after her manager had given her instructions, called JAN for suggestion on communication strategies.

14. Solution: JAN suggested strategies for communication that included speaking more slowly, using clear short sentences, and asking the employee to repeat back the information to help determine if she has understood.

16. Performance
Example: A project manager was returning to work after incurring a brain injury. He was having difficulty with organization, prioritization, and completing work in a timely manner.

17. Solution: The employee was accommodated with project management software, weekly meetings with his supervisor, and a Time Timer clock to help with task completion timeliness.

18. Conduct
Example: A new employee who is quite impulsive was reprimanded several times for interrupting meetings, interjecting his own personal opinions (often unrelated to what is being discussed) in meetings with coworkers as well as clients. When his supervisor gives him a second written warning, he discloses his ADHD and states that he just can’t help himself.

19. Solution: His supervisor provides him with an advanced agenda of meeting topics with a space for notes so the employee can gather his thoughts around what is appropriate to speak about in meetings and what is not.

20. Job Restructuring
Example: Jan, an attorney, must maintain a specified number of cases per year in addition to other responsibilities. Due to a worsening in her disability, she is unable to complete the cases while also conducting training and writing articles for a newsletter. Jan tells her supervisor about her disability and requests that she be allowed to eliminate the marginal functions of her job so that she can focus on her cases.

21. Solution: After determining that conducting trainings and writing articles are marginal functions for Jan and that no undue hardship exists, the firm reassigns her marginal functions as a reasonable accommodation.

23. Modified Schedule and Leave
Example: A case manager has difficulty with completing the required documentation. He works in a cubicle in a noisy open area that limits his ability to focus and concentrate. He knows that a private space is out of the question but feels if he could change his office hours, he may be better able to finish his work on time.

24. Solution: His supervisor agreed that the office can get hectic when everyone is there, so it was agreed upon that he would come in two hours early, not only before his co-workers’ arrival, but also when he has the most mental acuity and ability to focus.

25. Job Coach
Example: An employee who had difficulty making and sustaining eye contact had the habit of sliding his eyes down to co-workers’ chest area when he was conversing with them. Female coworkers felt this was highly inappropriate.

26. Solution: The employee was provided a mentor to help guide him with personal/social skills. They worked on practicing the skill of looking at an alternative location near the coworker’s ear when the employee couldn’t maintain eye contact while talking to coworkers.

27. Getting to Work on Time
Situation: An employee was distracted with using his new phone to the point of being late for work in the mornings.

28. Solution: The employer helped the employee set a series of timers to pace himself in the mornings, enabling him to get to work 15 minutes early. Besides keeping his job, he was rewarded with15 minutes of free time before work to use his phone.

30. Resources: A to Z of Disabilities and Accommodations
Employers' Practical Guide to Reasonable Accommodation Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 

31. Contact (800)526-7234 (V) & (877)781-9403 (TTY)
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