RETIRING education worker Dr Mercy Heatley was reunited with a former pupil she helped more than three decades ago at a pioneering autism unit.

The former paediatric psychiatrist has finally stepped down from her role as a trustee for the Children in Touch charity, which supports autistic children in Oxfordshire.

Jan Sanders, chairman of Children in Touch, said Dr Heatley pioneered better teaching and care in Oxfordshire in the early 1970s.

At the time, Dr Heatley, 89, worked as an educational psychiatrist for the local authority and in the course of her work realised the needs of autistic children were not being met.

She then helped to found a dedicated unit at St Andrew’s Primary School in Chinnor, near Thame, and continued to work for the charity after retiring aged 60.

On Saturday, 40 people gathered for a party at St Nicholas Church Hall in Old Marston, in Dr Heatley’s honour as she retired from the Children in Touch committee as a trustee.

Dr Heatley, of Oxford Road, Marston, said: “At the party there was a 47-year-old man called Harry Coleman who I worked with at the unit in Chinnor for autistic children when he was 11.

“He now lives in Oxfordshire and is living a very happy life as a gardener.

“The unit in Chinnor was lucky to have some very good teachers over the years, and I’m very touched that the party was held in my honour.”

Ms Sanders, 70, added: “Mercy was a real pioneer in this field. There were two five-year-old boys at St Andrew’s School in Chinnor, and they were expelled because the school couldn’t cope.

“Mercy realised that the children were autistic and thought they would be teachable if they could be given one-to-one tuition.

“Sheila Coates, a learning support teacher at the school at the time, agreed to take the task on, and was very successful. As a result, people started moving to Chinnor because the school gained a reputation for teaching autistic children.”

At the end of the 1970s, an autistic unit was set up at Lord Williams’ School in Thame.

A similar unit was also established at St Nicholas Primary School in Old Marston and at Cherwell School.

In 2002, Dr Heatley hit the headlines when she launched a tax protest against the war in Iraq.

For further information, telephone Autism Family Support on 01844 338 696 or log on to autismfst.org.uk affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk