PARENTS of an eight-year-old autistic boy said by doctors to be too scared to go to school have won a battle with Cheshire's education bosses to pay for home teaching.

The boy's classroom experiences left him clinically depressed with a school phobia.

Now Philip Adderley's parents, Helen and Rob, have won their appeal to a tribunal against Cheshire's Local Education Authority (LEA) refusal to provide funding to teach their son at home.

'Philip was badly let down by the LEA. They wouldn't believe he could not go to school,' said Helen, of Daleside, Upton.

'Legal fees and the cost of teaching Philip at home have come up to about £15,000. But it is not just the financial cost, our family has had to pay a big price. We have all suffered stress and anguish.'

Philip was withdrawn from Hinderton Special School, Ellesmere Port, in 2002, because he could not sleep or eat and began to suffer nightmares.

By the time he left he could not communicate and was still wearing pull-up nappies.

Psychiatrists warned he could have a nervous breakdown.

For 15 months, Helen and Rob have fought Cheshire County Council for funding for a verbal behaviour programme.

Using the technique at home, they toilet-trained Philip within a fortnight and he began to learn to talk and communicate using signs.

But education chiefs insisted he returned to school, forcing the Adderleys to take legal action.

Helen said: 'He started at school when he was three and at first really enjoyed it.

'Nobody can say exactly what happened to make him afraid and of course, he could not tell us. He would come home with bruises on his legs - I think one of the other children was kicking him - and on one occasion he was inconsolable after another child bit his finger.

'It would be unfair to say he was being bullied, but to an autistic child that is how it would feel. He became scared of other children.'

Philip's sleeping behaviour was much better at weekends and school holidays

By 2001, Helen and Rob were so dissatisfied they began looking at other ways to help Philip, flying to America and attending courses.

He attended appointments with a verbal behaviour therapist and a clinical psychologist, who both assessed him at home and at school.

Reports concluded Philip was not going to learn anything in his current educational setting and his parents decided to keep him at home.

After the LEA refused to assist, Helen and Rob appealed to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST).

'We had threatening letters and nasty correspondence from the LEA,' said Helen.

SENDIST concluded that Philip is unable to return to Hinderton School and agreed a home programme should be provided.

'Philip has the right to an education, whatever his needs,' said Helen. Cheshire County Council refused to comment until SENDIST's full findings have been released.