Our understanding of neurodiversity has come a long way. For example, it wouldn’t shock many people to find out that one in every five to six people is neurodivergent, meaning a significant portion of any room is processing information, managing attention and organising their thinking in ways that aren’t considered neurotypical.
So nowadays, many workplaces have policies, HR teams run awareness sessions, managers know the terminology. And yet, when you open up most training courses, you’ll find the same wall of text, a single format and the same pace for everyone — as though none of that understanding made it as far as the learning itself. Awareness, it turns out, is the simple bit.
The good news is that smarter learning design doesn’t require a complete 180-degree change. Small, intentional choices — in structure, format and flexibility — can make a big difference, and the impact goes further than you might expect. When learning is designed with neurodiversity in mind, it tends to work better for everyone — because what we’re really talking about is building bright, open educational environments where every learner feels seen, accommodated and set up to succeed.
What makes learning challenging?
Neurodivergent conditions vary widely. But research consistently points to a cluster of areas where they can impact the learning experience.
Attention and focus are challenges that cut across common types of neurodivergence, with internal distractions — like difficulty maintaining concentration — and external ones, like background noise, affecting the ability to engage with learning. For neurodivergent learners, domains like reading, listening, making decisions and writing may present significant additional difficulties.
Executive function — the set of skills covering planning, organisation and cognitive flexibility — is another major factor. Difficulties with cognitive flexibility, planning, organisation and emotional control are common in neurodivergent learners, and research consistently links these challenges to ADHD, autism and dyslexia. A course that requires a learner to independently manage their time, navigate a complex structure and self-regulate their focus is, in effect, testing executive function before it tests the actual learning objective.
Then there’s cognitive load — essentially, how much information our working memory can handle at any given time. Presenting content too quickly or densely may significantly increase perceived cognitive load, particularly for neurodivergent learners who may need more time and mental effort to process information.
Crucially, neurodivergent traits exist on a spectrum, and learners may show traits of several conditions — making labels less useful than understanding each individual’s strengths and challenges. Designing for neurodiversity means designing for variability. And when you do that well, everyone benefits. Clearer instructions help rushed neurotypical learners as much as they help someone with processing differences. Flexible assessment options open up new ways for all learners to show what they know. Good design has a way of being good for everyone.
A simple theoretical lens
Two frameworks are worth keeping in mind — not as rigid systems, but as useful lenses for your design decisions.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL), developed by CAST, directly addresses the primary barrier to fostering expert learners: inflexible, one-size-fits-all curricula. Its three straightforward principles are provide:
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- Multiple means of engagement (the why of learning).
- Multiple means of representation (the what).
- Multiple means of action and expression (the how).
UDL gives learners more than one route into content, more than one way to engage with it and more than one way to demonstrate they’ve understood it.
Cognitive Load Theory, meanwhile, reminds us that working memory has limits. Breaking down complex information into smaller, more manageable chunks — presented in shorter segments with clear timeframes — directly supports processing. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the overlap with microlearning principles is not a coincidence. Together, these frameworks make a compelling case: learning design that works for neurodivergent learners tends to work better for everyone.
Core design principles
Consistent layouts, clear instructions and chunked content reduce the cognitive effort required to navigate a course — leaving more mental energy for actual learning. Get the basics right — clear headings, logical flow, instructions that actually make sense — and you’ve already removed a barrier before a learner hits it.
Flexibility and choice
Providing multiple formats of instructional materials — such as both auditory and visual content — and supporting learners’ self-awareness and regulation are among the key principles of inclusive learning design. In practice, that means offering content in a range of formats — text, video, audio — so there’s a route in for every learner preference. It also means rethinking how learners can participate and demonstrate their understanding. A written report, a recorded explanation, a structured quiz — different formats surface different strengths and no single submission format should be the only path to success.
Reducing cognitive overload
When a course is cluttered — visually, linguistically or structurally — working memory fills up fast, leaving less capacity for actual learning. Avoid unnecessary complexity: don’t use three sentences where one will do, don’t use technical jargon where plain language works, and don’t present five concepts at once when two will land better on their own. If you’re designing a module on data protection, for example, separate the “what is personal data?” section from the “what do you do if there’s a breach?” section — each concept gets space to breathe and learners can apply one before moving to the next.
Supporting self-management
Having some control over your own learning makes a real difference — especially for learners who find executive function challenging. Checklists and visible milestones give learners a clear sense of where they are and what’s coming. Progress indicators provide a small but meaningful sense of achievement at each stage. And time guidance for tasks — even something as simple as “this section takes around five minutes” — helps learners plan, reduces anxiety and makes it easier to fit learning around other commitments.
Putting it all into practice
Right, enough theory. Here are some concrete ways to make your learning design more accessible, starting today:
- Break content into short sections with summaries. Rather than a 20-slide deck on workplace safety, break it into five focused sections — each covering one topic, each ending with a two-sentence summary of the key takeaway. Learners know what they’ve covered, what’s coming and what actually matters.
- Provide examples of good work. Don’t just describe what a successful outcome looks like — show it. An annotated example of a well-completed risk assessment, for instance, makes the standard explicit and removes the guesswork that can be particularly stressful for learners with anxiety or processing differences.
- Use low-stakes quizzes for practice. A short, ungraded knowledge check after each section lets learners test their understanding without the pressure of formal assessment. It also helps them — and you — identify where understanding is shaky before it becomes a problem.
- Make expectations explicit. Don’t assume learners will infer what’s required. If a task has a word count, state it. If there’s a preferred format, specify it. If there’s a deadline, make it visible. What feels obvious to a course designer is often anything but to a learner navigating a new platform or a new topic.
The role of digital platforms
Digital learning, when thoughtfully designed, can offer the personalisation, autonomy and flexibility that neurodivergent learners need to thrive — but the platform is only as good as the design choices made within it.
Structured modules with clear navigation, visible progress tracking, flexible content formats and built-in accessibility features all make a meaningful difference. So does the ability to revisit content, move at your own pace and access material across devices.
At Moodle, neuroinclusion is something we think about — in how our platforms are built and in how we support the educators and L&D professionals who use them. You can read more about our approach to creating neuroinclusive eLearning environments on our blog. But the underlying principle holds regardless of platform: design choices matter more than the tools themselves.
Start small, design better
You don’t need to redesign everything at once. Pick one module, one course, one onboarding flow — and apply a few of the principles here. Ensure your activity completion settings are set so learners have clear progress indicators. Break a dense section into smaller chunks. Offer an audio version alongside the text. Ask yourself: if a learner had concerns with executive functioning, would this course help them or hinder them?
The changes that benefit neurodivergent learners — clarity, structure, flexibility, explicit expectations — are the same changes that make learning better for everyone. Which is kind of the whole point.
