Be patient
People with a learning disability may need a bit more time to understand new information – but as volunteers you are most likely to just be chatting and providing some human contact.
There are no specialist skills that you need – your compassion and your kind donation of time is enough to make a huge difference to someone’s day.
If you are talking about new or more complicated information, take time, use easy words, and do not worry if you need to repeat things to help someone understand them. Try not to give too much information all in one go. It can be helpful to imagine you are talking in bullet points, and to allow time between one idea and the next.
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Page last reviewed: 20 December 2023
