Yosheen Pillay

Dr Yosheen Pillay is a Senior Lecturer and Psychologist in Educational Counselling at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) since 2016. Affiliated with the School of Education and the Centre for Health Research, her work focuses on autism, mental health, disability, and inclusive education. She holds a BMusic (Natal, 1988), BSc(Hons) (USQ, 2014), MMusic (Natal, 1994), and PhD (USQ, 2018) in Education. Pillay leads and co-supervises doctoral research on topics like trauma-informed practices, autism transition services, and sandplay therapy. Her teaching expertise includes educational counselling and multiliteracies.

Education:

• BMusic, University of Natal, 1988
• BSc(Hons), USQ, 2014
• MMusic, University of Natal, 1994
• PhD, USQ, 2018

Research Interests: Pillay’s work centers on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) transition services, mental health in education, inclusive practices, and ethics in research. She explores strategies to support autistic youth transitioning into adulthood, the role of technologies in education, and respectful school environments. Her studies often involve mixed-methods approaches and collaboration with communities.

Publications reflect trends in autism support systems, mental health education strategies, and ethics review processes. Key themes include: 1) Transition planning for neurodiverse youth, 2) Technology-enhanced learning in higher education, and 3) Improving ethics review frameworks for interdisciplinary research.

Awards: No scientific awards explicitly stated.

Supervision: Pillay leads projects like ‘Autistic girls: Lived experiences on transition from primary to secondary school’ and co-supervises studies on renewable assignments and Panopto video analytics. She also contributes to ethics review processes at USQ.

Labs/Teams: Active in the School of Education’s research clusters, particularly those focused on disability studies and educational technology. Collaborates with the Centre for Health Research on mental health initiatives.