Mothers will do anything for their children. But Anna Kennedy’s struggle for a decent education for her sons is both astonishing and uniquely inspiring.

Defying the odds to open Baston House, Bromley’s groundbreaking school for autistic children, Anna was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

But there was one other surprising reward this summer for the mum of two autistic sons, who still works tirelessly for children who have the condition. She was one of only 23 Protocol Team Leaders chosen to welcome athletes and VIP visitors to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Anna was excited to meet legendary Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave during her days at the Games, which included the closing ceremony. But the pupils at the two specialist schools she runs were never far from her thoughts and she collected Olympic memorabilia – including exclusive opening ceremony lunch boxes – to take back to the children afterwards.

Anna’s sons Patrick, 22, and Angelo, 19, were diagnosed on the autistic spectrum as toddlers. When she realised there wasn’t enough specialist school provision for her children, she fought to establish Hillingdon Manor School in Middlesex, as well as Baston House School in Hayes. This remarkable achievement, which involved Anna and her husband Sean remortgaging their home and mounting a huge fund raising campaign, is movingly retold in her biography Not Stupid. But the petite former dancer still has one more major goal in mind.

“My big ambition is to have a performing arts school for autistic children,” said Anna. “It’s a long term goal because it would require a lot of money but I believe it can be done.”

Anna is excited about meeting the Queen and receiving her OBE. But more importantly she believes it will help raise awareness of the needs of autistic children and their families.

“Obviously I am honoured but my love for my sons has kept me going,” said Anna.

“I hope to use this award to springboard improvements and changes in the world of autism and I will accept the OBE on behalf of all families who are affected by autism.”

There are over half a million – or one in 64 – people diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASC) in the UK. The condition affects the way people communicate or relate to others and the world about them. However they can often excel in other areas, such as music or dance. Anna says with the right support and assistance, many young people with ASC, which includes Aspbergers, can develop exceptional talents. As a former dancer, who worked as a teacher in her home town of Middlesborough and at Pineapple Studios, Anna was keen to promote music and dance in her schools.

She quickly saw the results with huge improvements in the children’s confidence and social and listening skills, as well as their spatial awareness and flexibility.

To demonstrate just how talented these young people can be Anna staged a hugely successful show, Autism’s Got Talent, at the Mermaid Theatre in London last May. An audience of 600, including patron Esther Rantzen, watched the Pineapple dancers open the show while Peter Dickenson, the voice of Britain’s Got Talent, provided the voice-over. “It was a really amazing night and so moving – people were crying in the audience,” said Anna.

Anna’s struggle to improve schooling for autistic children began not long after her sons Angelo and Patrick were born some 20 years ago. They were still very young when Angelo was diagnosed with Autism and Patrick with Aspbergers. Anna and her lawyer husband Sean got little help from the authorities and home schooled their boys for several years because they couldn’t find a place for them in specialist schools.

When the couple came across an empty school in Middlesex, they decided to remortgage their house and take out a loan to establish Hillingdon Manor. Today the school is flourishing and was recently rated “excellent” by Ofsted. Both Baston House, which was opened a year ago by Samantha Cameron, and Hillingdon have fully trained specialist teachers and custom designed classrooms and facilities to give the pupils the best possible start.

“Early intervention is crucial for children with autism,” said Anna. “If you can give them the right support early on, many of the children can go into mainstream schools when they are older.”

Anna fully appreciates how difficult it is for families with an autistic child. She admits it was tough on her husband and herself as a couple and says it saddens her to see many mums and dads split up because of the pressures and lack of advice and support.

Today Anna’s son Patrick works part-time doing gardening and maintenance at Hillingdon Manor while her husband Sean advocates on behalf of families of autistic children fighting for funding.

“The difficulty is many parents are really struggling financially at the moment,” said Anna. “They are finding it difficult to get approval for state funding so are maxing out their credit cards to keep their children in school. We need more trained teachers and more assistance for these families.”

Baston House has just celebrated its first birthday and is well on its way to recruiting a target 130 children aged between three and a half and 16, with long term plans to establish another 16+ college in Bromley like the West London Community College near Hillingdon.

Her fundraising charity, Anna Kennedy Online, has many supporters including bestselling author Kathe Lette, and has just been sponsored by West Ham FC for £10,000. But she says her biggest support has come from the families and friends of the pupils themselves who fundraise tirelessly.

“I always say if I think about an idea and I talk about it, it happens – that’s what happened with Hillingdon. People said ‘you’ll never make it happen’ but that always makes me even more determined. www.annakennedy online.com