When Laura Costen's son Stanley started school near their home in Sydney "nothing ran smoothly".
His first taste of school left him feeling overwhelmed and struggling socially.
"You're kind of pigeonholed. There aren't many options for you other than pull him out or leave him and let him suffer," Ms Costen said.
"He'd already regressed to the point where he'd stopped speaking, which we'd already worked so hard to get him to speak.
"We just didn't want to go back any further."
Ms Costen's son has autism, and their school told her it couldn't cater to his needs and that a special unit wouldn't be available for 18 months.
"When they [the school] said they couldn't cope, I thought, 'OK, well that's fine. We'll just homeschool' … then I said to my husband [Stanley] 'I think we should get a caravan and I think we should travel Australia'."
Inclusive education specialist at the Queensland University of Technology, Beth Saggers, said the number of home-school or distance education students with autism has risen because of a lack of support in the schooling system.
"With this cohort of learners there is often forced placement choices that parents are making because their kids are falling out of the mainstream school system," she said.
A trip of a lifetime
The Costen family sold most of their belongings and set off in a caravan in November with no firm return date.
The family wants to travel slowly around Australia.
They're currently in Nebo, in Queensland, after spending time in Tannum Sands.
Ms Costen teaches Stanley, 6, and his younger sister Malachy, 4, while Mr Costen does shift work in the mining sector.
Both children have autism.
When Mr Costen returns to the caravan site, the children have already completed their school work and the family spends time exploring together.
"At the minute it's working and [they're doing] things that I thought they'd never do," Ms Costen said.
"When you see a paediatrician they say, 'don't be disheartened, they might never swim, they might never ride a bike'.
"You see other kids doing things and just basic interaction with each other and they're doing it so well. Then you see your child and your child is struggling so much.
"As a parent, you'll come home at night and just cry all the time.
"But at caravan sites, the kids just run around and play together."
Ms Costen said Stanley's speech has since returned and the children are thriving.
She has since started a social media account to show families who have children with autism that they can travel and homeschool.
"I do feel like they give you that label and they tell you, you have to go to speech, OT, psychology," she said.
"Your life is kind of taken over by these things … but you can do that on the road, there's Zoom now so you can still do your therapies."
More flexibility
Before setting off in their caravan, Ms Costen said she was scared to leave the house and likened her old life in Sydney to "being in a bubble."
"They would always have meltdowns and it's very hard because other people don't understand," she said.
"Whereas when we're out and about like this, it's just a lot nicer and they can do things where it's not as busy."
Professor Saggers said in the mainstream school system, children on the autism spectrum can face barriers to learning, particularly when schools don't offer the level of customisation the child needs.
She said this can lead to more social and environmental challenges, increased anxiety, risk of bullying and poorer mental health outcomes.
"Home ed for example gives a lot more flexibility for families … You can tailor more to individual needs, strengths and interests and you can pace the learning in a way that might suit them," Professor Saggers said.
Ms Costen said homeschooling has been easier than what she thought it would be.
"Sometimes the crafty stuff is the hardest because you don't necessarily carry all of the pieces that you would in your own home," she said.
"They love it … you can put a lot more time into it and cater more towards their interests, which is the key to anything with Stanley especially."
