Fed up with her son being knocked back for work, Zoe Sandell decided to take matters into her own hands.

Key points: Only 6 per cent of people with autism are employed

Only 6 per cent of people with autism are employed Brodie Lunn lives with severe autism and struggled to find work

Brodie Lunn lives with severe autism and struggled to find work Along with his mother, he set up his own lawnmowing business

Along with his mother, he set up his own lawnmowing business He now has 60 customers and loves his work

She set up 20-year-old Brodie Lunn, who has severe autism, with his own lawnmowing business. And it changed his life.

"He puts on the high viz to go to work, and he knows it's a work day," Ms Sandell told 7.30.

"'I'm going mowing, I'm putting on my high viz', and he puts on his work boots and he's the same as other people."

There are disability organisations that offer employment, but the nature of Brodie's autism ruled him out of that.

"They need to be able to work in a group with minimal support, so one person supports a group of workers," Ms Sandell said.

"They don't provide that one-on-one support that Brodie needs."

'It really makes you proud'

Zoe Sandell is proud of what Brodie has achieved. ( ABC News: Angelique Donnellan )

Since Brodie started lawnmowing, Ms Sandell said his confidence had soared.

"We were told he wasn't fit for mainstream school, he wasn't even fit to be around other children in school. He was deemed so challenging that he had to be isolated from everybody else," she said.

Fran Garland has noticed a change in Brodie since he's been mowing her lawns. ( ABC News: Angelique Donnellan )

"Look at him now — he's got his own business and he's working. It really makes you very proud."

Brodie's business, called Create Your Own Future, now has about 60 customers.

Fran Garland was one of the first.

"Brodie's been coming here now for about 12 months, and they come about once a month," she told 7.30.

"I've noticed a change in our relationship since he's been here because he'll wave to me and look at me."

An economic and social problem

Sonya Girdler of the Curtin Autism Research Group says autism is an economic and social issue. ( Supplied: Curtin University )

Australia has one of the lowest rates in the OECD of employment for people with disability.

There are 164,000 people diagnosed with autism in the country. The vast majority of those adults with autism are unemployed or underemployed.

"Of those registered with the national disability assistance service, 73 per cent have the disability support pension as their main source of income and only 6 per cent are in employment," Curtin University's Professor Sonya Girdler told 7.30.

But she believes, with the right support, people with autism can thrive in the workplace.

"Autism is an increasing issue facing Australian society," she said.

"I think 6 per cent employment, and with the trajectory [it] is something we can no longer afford to ignore.

"It's an economic and social problem."

'He'd rather be pushing a mower'

Support worker Kerry Wilson (r) helps Brodie mowing lawns. ( ABC News )

Professor Girdler said people with autism had specific skills that could make them very good employees.

"Many of them are very punctual, they have amazing attention to detail, a high tolerance to monotonous tasks," she said.

"If employers can understand they have these amazing strengths then they can actually create jobs that are a good fit."

It's the repetitive and physical nature of lawnmowing that's a good fit for Brodie.

With support worker Kerry Wilson by his side, he mows two days a week.

"When we've got days when there's not too much work on, that gets him more upset. I think he gets a bit of agitation from that," he told 7.30.

"He'd rather be pushing a mower and doing stuff and getting out of the house."

Brodie's success has prompted his mum to expand the lawnmowing business.

School finishes — then there's nothing

Kosta Matsouliadis (right) mows lawns once a week with Kerry Wilson's help. ( ABC News: Angelique Donnellan )

Kosta Matsouliadis is the newest member of the team.

According to Kosta's mother, Kally Matsouliadis, when he finished school there were no jobs for teenagers with autism.

"We have a lot of support when we're at school and you feel like everything's positive and things are going to be hunky dory when you finish school, but really there's nothing," she told 7.30.

"Kosta's biggest challenge now is, as he's got older, is sensitivities to sounds, to people, shouting [and] screaming.

"So he's become really quite isolated at home because we can't take him out in the community, because the first thing he'll do is attack someone, hurt someone."

Curiously the sound of lawnmowing doesn't faze him.

"My husband started him in the backyard one day just lawnmowing," Mrs Matsouliadis said.

"I was in the kitchen and I thought, oh my god, he's been out there for 45 [minutes], and Kosta does not show interest in anything longer than five minutes."

Now Kosta mows one day a week for Create Your Own Business, with the help of support worker Kerry Wilson.

Ultimately Ms Sandell hopes more employers will recognise the benefits of hiring people with autism.

"Brodie has the biggest smile on workdays, when he goes to work," she told 7.30.

"If everyone was that happy to go to work it'd be a bonus."