Frustrated parents found their own school

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Marianne Kavanagh meets a mother who felt driven to set up a special-needs school-

"It can be tough finding the right school for your child. But for Anna Kennedy and her husband, Sean, it was impossible.

Their elder son Patrick has Asperger syndrome. Their younger son Angelo is autistic. By the time the boys were eight and five, they had been turned down by 26 special needs schools, all hopelessly oversubscribed. After battling with her local education authority in Hillingdon, Middlesex, Anna decided there was only one option left: she would start a school of her own.

"It all started from sheer desperation," she says. "There were times when I rang my mum and just cried and cried over the phone."

Once the idea of starting a school took hold, Anna, Sean and their friends were unstoppable. They had to fight for premises, and for a bank loan to pay for the lease; they begged and borrowed (and even remortgaged their house) to raise funds; Anna cajoled and persuaded individuals, councillors and charities to help. On September 4, 1999, Hillingdon Manor School opened and in 2001, following a glowing Ofsted inspection, it was finally registered by the Department for Schools. "Anna has leapt over hurdles most of us would run from," says Esther Rantzen in her introduction to Anna's book 'Not Stupid'.

Hard work at a local level has not stopped her from grappling with the bigger picture. While working on her latest projects (a further education college and a dating agency, Friends First, both for autistic adults with complex needs), she remains frustrated by the obstacles faced by parents with children needing special education.

Statements of special educational needs (the passport to extra resources) are hard to get, especially as autistic children oftenhave high IQs. "I was at a meeting at the House of Commons in April where Ed Balls [Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families] seemed genuinely shocked that children weren't getting statements because of IQ thresholds," she says. She is angry that only 15 per cent of adults with autism are in full-time employment: "I see so many young adults, like my son, Patrick, who can offer a lot to society."

Patrick, now 18, has just finished school. He starts a media studies course at a mainstream college next month. "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think he will become independent one day," says Anna. Angelo, 15, is still locked in autism, and will always need one-to-one support. But he has made progress at school."