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Brisbane mother Kristy Lee tried four different schools before deciding to home school her daughter who has autism.
“It was publicised that there’s so much support now in schools [for neurodivergent kids] compared to when I went to school,” she says. “And so I thought there’d be heaps of support and understanding.”
Despite the efforts of several “amazing” teachers, Lee says her daughter fell behind. When she started being bullied and her mental health declined, they “pulled the plug” on school.
“I was literally pulling her out of the house screaming like blue murder, just to be able to go to school,” Lee says. “[When she became] suicidal that scared me enough to go … ‘What’s going wrong in the system for her to feel like this?’”
Lee is part of a growing cohort of Queensland parents turning to home education because mainstream school could not meet their child’s neurodevelopmental or learning needs.
As of August last year, 11,800 children were registered for home-schooling across the state, reflecting a 110 per cent increase in primary school children, and a 167 per cent rise in secondary, from 2021 to 2025.
A survey by Queensland’s Department of Education in 2022 found the ability to provide a better learning environment for children was the main reason families chose to home-school.
Two-thirds (61 per cent) said they were educating a child with a disability or health issue, with nearly half diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental condition such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A survey by home-schooling provider Euka Future Learning last year found bullying or social challenges was the main reason Queensland respondents home-schooled (25.6 per cent), followed by academic reasons (20.2 per cent) and learning differences or additional needs (12.8 per cent).
Brisbane mother Sandy Whiteman says her daughter started to show signs of anxiety and resistance to school in grade 1. By grade 2 she was being bullied, and outwardly refusing to go to school.
Her son, then in prep, was also struggling with school and unable to get the support he needed.
“The situation was getting tough, and then we realised the issue wasn’t just the specific settings, it was the rigid structure and pace of mainstream schooling itself, it just didn’t fit for my kids,” Whiteman says.
“After months of observing, stress and attempting solutions, I reached a point where continuing school felt more harmful than stepping away.”
Since leaving mainstream school, Whiteman’s kids have been diagnosed with autism, ADHD, sensory processing disorder (SPD) and pathological demand avoidance (PDA).
“My daughter also got diagnosed with severe anxiety, and my son with aggression,” she says.
Lee’s daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia, a neurodevelopmental condition affecting physical co-ordination and motor skills, about six months after beginning home-schooling.
But both parents say their children’s learning has improved since leaving mainstream school.
“For neurodivergent kids, repeated social stress isn’t just unpleasant, it can be hugely disruptive for emotional regulation and learning,” Whiteman says.
“[In home school] we are thriving [and] we’re learning much better.
“Their sensory regulations are met. They are emotionally active, and they’re not feeling burned out. They’re not feeling too much pressure.”
Lee says her daughter is still behind aged-based grading, but can now read and write: “Where before she couldn’t.”
Free2Homeschool co-founder Patricia Fitzgerald, who mounted a campaign against the Queensland government’s proposal to force families to teach the Australian curriculum, says while acceptance of home-schooling has grown, many do not understand that often families leave mainstream because schools can’t meet their child’s diverse learning needs.
“Instead of curriculum use and alignment, we are keeping the action child-centred,” she says.
“That means more flexibility so we can meet the children where they are … so we’re able to provide that learning in a way that is more valuable and more relatable to the children.”
An estimated 2 children in every classroom have ADHD, and about 4.3 per cent of kids aged five to 14 years are autistic.
A report by the Queensland Family and Child Commission published last year said “mainstream teaching often relies on methods which do not meet the needs of students who learn and process information differently”.
The same report found most schools had only taken minimal steps towards specific adjustments for autistic students, and only 16 per cent of parents or carers said their child’s school provided educators with professional development on autism.
Nearly all parents believed school staff required additional training to better understand ADHD.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said “all Queensland state schools are provided with additional resourcing and support for students with disability, with resourcing recognising all disability types, including autism and ADHD”.
“The department also makes available a range of specialist staff, including therapists, advisory visiting teachers, principal advisors for autism and inclusion and state school registered nurses.”
Lee and Whiteman say their attempts to access additional support for their children were not successful and as a result, will finish their schooling from home.
“I was pressured by her therapist and ex-NDIS coordinator to put her back in school, so we tried for a fifth time,” Lee says.
“The school was great, they were going to help as much as they could, but they can only do so much.
“[Teachers] are up against a system where they’re overrun with so many students in the classroom … and they don’t have the facilities to teach each child individually the way the child learns.”
“Even if I did put my kids back in school, they’re going to miss out on learning,” Whiteman says.
“These kids need one-on-one support, and in a school system, there are 25 kids.”
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