Autism in the Australian Workplace: The Employer Perspective. An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study

Autism in the Australian Workplace: The Employer Perspective. An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study

Autistic adults face alarmingly high rates of unemployment and underemployment. There is limited research regarding employers' capacity to support autistic persons, how to better understand employers' needs and their key role in employment processes. This thesis explored autism in the workplace from the neglected perspective of the employer and developed an autism workplace survey for employers of autistic adults in Australia. An initial scoping review of the literature was followed by a mixed methods exploratory sequential design. The first phase of this design consisted of a qualitative exploration of the current knowledge of employers regarding the qualities of autism and autism-specific workplace adjustments. Novel findings were the critical importance of employer self-care and treating all employees the same. The initial qualitative findings were used to develop a quantitative survey that was administered to a larger sample of employers. The results suggested direct benefits of employing autistic persons in relation to knowledge, confidence and likelihood of employing autistic persons. Both the qualitative and quantitative findings reinforced the need for ongoing education of employers to strengthen knowledge of autism in the workplace, the importance of attitudinal intervention and directly addressing workplace environmental variables. This thesis provides important data from the employer's perspective towards the development of employer tools to support autistic persons in the workplace. Ultimately, this thesis is expected to lend insight into the successful employment of autistic persons.

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