CALNE mum Pauline Crane is selling her nursery school business to educate her daughter from home, because she fears she will regress if she is sent to a mainstream secondary school.

Wiltshire County Council, as the local education authority, told Mrs Crane her daughter Kerry, ten, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. is fit to go into mainstream education at John Bentley School next year.

But Mrs Crane, 35, of Heron Close, claims the education authority which assessed Kerry, who currently attends Priestley School, Calne, failed to take into account the her individual needs.

She said Wiltshire County Council did not consider the severity of Kerry's condition.

Mrs Crane has spent five years building up Angeline's Nursery School, in the grounds of Priestley School, from scratch. But she said she is prepared to give it all up to do what she thinks is best for her daughter.

"I've invested time and energy in my business and it's very viable," Mrs Crane said. "But I cannot help other children when my daughter is crawling around like a horse. She's not been given the support she needs."

Mrs Crane said John Bentley School has told her it can manage Kerry, but she is not convinced her daughter can handle life in an ordinary class at secondary school.

She said Kerry has pictures of herself performing simple daily tasks to remind her what to do each morning, including getting out of bed, brushing her teeth and getting dressed.

"Kerry has no perception of danger," said Mrs Crane. "It's like having a four year-old trapped in an 11-year-old's body. But because she can read and write, they're saying she's making progress, but that's not my definition of progress."

Mrs Crane said Kerry stopped speaking for three-and-a-half years when she was placed in nursery school and she fears a similar pattern of regression if she starts at John Bentley in September.

A spokesman for the county council said: "We always strive to reach agreement with the parents, but sometimes this is not possible. Where agreement cannot be reached the parents have the right to ask for an independent tribunal.

"When we are asked to make an assessment on a child's educational needs we always look at each case on an individual basis."

He said assessments are carried out by a skilled team and decisions are based on information gathered from people who know the child, including the parents and school.

According to Mrs Crane, ten children with Asperger's Syndrome attend John Bentley School and she is appealing for their parents to contact her. Mrs Crane said she wants an honest opinion on how their children coped at the school with their condition.

Mrs Crane said she has nothing against John Bentley School, which her son David, 18, attended and her son Gary, 13, still attends, but she is not convinced it is best for her daughter.

"If I could meet up with other parents, whose children are older, they might be able to tell me their children had a difficult start, but are progressing," she said.

"That's what I need to hear and if I don't hear that I'm not putting my child at risk. I will be the one left to pick up the pieces if it all goes wrong."

adavey@newswilts.co.uk