How this mum is getting young neurodivergent students jobs
A Brisbane mum was worried about what her son would do after high school, so she created a transition program to help other neurodivergent young adults.
Kathy Harris had often worried about what her son would do after high school due to the limited options available for neurodivergent young adults.
The Brisbane mum said students who attended special school were often not expected to work and would attend programs that were "predominantly adult minding".
She said she wanted to create a better option for her son, Rory, who has autism.
More than 290,000 Australians have an autism diagnosis, and they are six times more likely to be unemployed than people without a disability, according to the national autism strategy released last year.
Campus Life participants take part in a range of activities as part of the program including exercise classes. (ABC News: Sarah Richards)
The program Ms Harris designed, called Campus Life, involves a small group of young adults with disability going to a tertiary campus weekly, with the aim of helping them get into work or study after about three years.
The initiative has participants engaged in activities such as speech and music therapy, learning some first year Bachelor of Business content, and attending exercise classes.
It has become the flagship program of the Centre for Inclusive Supports Inc charity.
"I didn't know how it was going to go when we started," Ms Harris said.
The first version of the program began as a six-month research program with six participants in 2021 and was then followed by another project with Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia) and Griffith University.
ACU students help run exercise classes for the Campus Life participants. (ABC News: Sarah Richards)
Both studies found friendships had developed and were an important part of the program.
"It really helped us to see what we needed to do and what we needed to keep going with," she said.
In 2025, the charity partnered with the Australian Catholic University (ACU), with participants meeting on their Brisbane campus.
Ms Harris said it had been a "wonderful" collaboration with ACU students running the exercise session and volunteering to lead activities for participants during their semesters.
"We've developed some great friendships with the students," she said.
'No options'
Rory Harris, who is now 22 years old, was part of the first cohort.
He said he was "proud" of his mum for creating the initiative.