THE parents of an autistic child are taking their local authority to a tribunal after it refused to pay for pioneering treatment.

Allison and Geoff Hardy estimate that it costs £16,000 a year to teach their five-year-old son, Conor, under the Growing Minds programme.

First introduced in Miami, Florida, it is developed to suit the needs of autistic children on an individual basis.

It involves parents teaching through a combination of educational play and formal lessons, and requires regular trips to America for assessments and training.

Since starting the programme, Conor, of Esh Winning, near Durham, has gone from speaking only two words and being unable to interact socially, to having a 300-word vocabulary and being comfortable with people.

But in order to spend the necessary 40 hours a week working with him, Mrs Hardy, 37, has had to give up her £16,500-a-year job as an office manager.

To make ends meet, Mr Hardy, 36, a full-time council labourer, works weekends as a door supervisor.

Yet, despite agreeing that Mrs Hardy is doing an excellent job, Durham County Council has refused to contribute towards the cost.

She said: "We estimate that the cost to run the programme is £16,000 a year, including trips to America, learning materials and toys.

"All our savings have gone and there's even talk of having to remortgage the house.

"An inspector came out to assess the programme and he said we were doing a really good job. We can't understand why Durham won't accept it."

After initially offering Conor a supported place at Esh Winning Primary School, which would have cost £21,000 a year, the council has recommended he go to a special school, costing £10,000 a year, plus travel expenses.

Mr Hardy said that under the Growing Minds programme, Conor should progress sufficiently to be able to attend mainstream school, saving the council money in the long run.

A council spokeswoman said: "The parents have lodged an appeal with the special educational needs and disability tribunal. As yet, no further decisions have been taken by the authority, but we are keeping Conor's position under review."

Growing Minds is based on:

* Training parents to create home-based programmes for their children, and providing support including regular retraining and reassessments and access to advice via the Internet.

* Developing autistic children's attention skills.

* Making them comply with adult requests.

* Developing language, play and social communication skills.

* One-to-one intensive teaching using an autism-specific approach