Educational and vocational engagement
We determine and promote the best learning and vocational pathways for autistic people at all levels of education and in volunteer and paid employment.
Research program leader:
Professor Cheryl Dissanayake
Researchers:
Darren Hedley, Amanda Richdale, Simon Bury, Rebecca Flower, Josephine Barbaro, Melissa Gilbert, Lauren Lawson
Our work aims to benefit autistic people, employers and broader society by:
- increasing the rates of autistic people in high quality jobs
- ensuring an individual differences approach to supporting autistic strengths at work.
OTARC Seminar Series - Patrick Dwyer
Watch Patrick Dwyer present about building neurodiversity-inclusive postsecondary campuses
Support practices at work: Views of autistic employees
Autistic people face major barriers to getting into the workforce. This can affect their wellbeing. Three focus groups aimed to understand autistic experiences of recruitment, selection, training, and onboarding in a supportive employment program.
We found four themes:
- previous work experiences
- expectations of the program
- recruitment
- selection processes; and training and transition.
Overall, trainees in the program supported the use of alternate recruitment and selection processes.
Where to now? Our next step is identify ideal factors and support systems linked to successful employment for autistic people that lead to long-lasting and meaningful careers.
Supporting a neurodiverse workforce
This toolkit was designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of autistic workers.
It has up-to-date, evidence-based information and strategies about mental health and wellbeing. These can be used as an in-depth information source with useful resources or a training course to create workplace competency in mental health and autism.
The toolkit provides information for different end-users:
- Executives and supervisors
- mentors/colleagues
- autistic workers
The toolkit was developed in partnership with DXC Technology (The Dandelion Project) and ANZ Bank.
Download the toolkit [PDF 1.1MB]
In-person and train-the-trainer training now offered
The in-person training and train-the-trainer packages were developed with support from Untapped Holdings.
For information about the package, or the upcoming online training, please contact Simon Bury
- Businesses coached to support workers with autism - ABC am
- A world-first toolkit to assist workplaces to better support the mental health of autistic employees - La Trobe News
- Supporting a neurodiverse workforce - The Canberra Times
- I struggled with office life. Now others are alive to benefits of remote working - The Guardian
- Autism in the workplace - ABC Radio Hobart
- Career hope for people with autism - La Trobe News
- Ask me first: What self-assessments can tell us about autism - Spectrum News
- Workforce success for autistic employees - LTU News
Understanding the Experience of Autistic Working Mothers in Australia: An Exploratory Study
Funding: La Trobe University
This study aims to understand the benefits and challenges autistic women experience in being a parent/caregiver and being employed. It also aims to identify specific supports that are needed for autistic women who manage caring and work responsibilities.
Katherine (Kate) Gore (PhD candidate), Josephine Barbaro, Melissa Gilbert, Rebecca Flower
Success in Higher Education for Neurodivergent Students
Funding: La Trobe University
Exploring the higher education experiences of neurodivergent students in order to better support them to complete their studies.
Lyndel Kennedy (PhD candidate), Amanda Richdale, Lauren Lawson
Interviewer perceptions of atypical workplace behaviours of an autistic jobseeker under disability disclosed or hidden conditions; evoking attribution and intergroup contact theory
Funding: La Trobe University
Exploring how diagnostic disclosure, attribution and intergroup contact theory might influence employment outcomes for autistic job seekers.
Olivia Corrente (Honours candidate), Rebecca Flower, Darren Hedley
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Higher Education
Alison Nuske (external PhD candidate - Flinders University), Fiona Rillotta, Michelle Bellon, Amanda Richdale
DXC Technology -The Dandelion Program: Autism employment
The creation of the Dandelion Program by multinational Hewlett Packard (now DXC Technology) in 2015 began with the dual aims of:
- Providing meaningful employment for a small group of autistic young people
- Tracking the success of the DXC’s alternative workplace approach in supporting autistic employees.
The impact of this initial small-scale program has spread far beyond that small group of individuals and their families, to now encompass:
- A freely-available protocol for other companies to follow in emulating the success of the Dandelion Program
- Programs in the Department of Human Services (DHS) software testing area; in cybersecurity at the Department of Defence, and most recently, in Records Information Management, at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.
- 80 people with autism employed at DXC via the Dandelion Program
- 220 other organisations have downloaded material from Social Impact Practice, the DXC division devoted to spreading the approach pioneered at DXC.
Specialisterne Australia, DXC Technology and the Department of Human Services
Specialisterne Australia, DXC Technology and the Department of Human Services ran The Dandelion Program to provide skilled employment for people with autism from 2014-2017. OTARC has an ongoing research partnership with the three organisations.