La Trobe has teamed up with academic and industry partners to create a first-of-its-kind mental health toolkit to support the wellbeing of autistic employees.
“Employers report that autistic employees tend to be reliable, conscientious and highly productive, yet autistic adults experience the highest rates of unemployment and underemployment of all Australians living with disability,” says project lead, Dr Jennifer Spoor.
Dr Spoor is the Research Director (Vocational Engagement) at La Trobe’s Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre and Associate Professor of Management/Human Resources Management in the La Trobe Business School.
“Many autistic adults also struggle with their wellbeing and mental health, which may be a barrier to their long-term employment,” she says.
Until now, there have been no evidence-based programs to support the mental health and wellbeing of autistic employees.
To address this, Dr Spoor has worked with academic and industry partners, including Dr Simon Bury, DXC Technology, Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) and Untapped Talent, to develop a mental health toolkit for managers, co-workers and autistic employees.
“The toolkit includes a mental health training program and a framework to facilitate job customisation. These tools aim to reduce challenges to mental health and improve positive wellbeing, ultimately improving employee and organisation performance,” says Dr Spoor.
The toolkit is currently being trialled in various organisations to evaluate its effectiveness.
“The insights from this evaluation will allow us to improve and expand the toolkit, while also improving our overall understanding of the longer-term employment experience for autistic individuals.”
