Families star in emotional short film exploring the lifelong impact the right support has

Published by Prior's Court School on Tuesday 18th of November 2025

A new short film shines a light on the powerful journeys of families supported by Prior’s Court. Through deeply personal accounts, it explores the challenges, perseverance and love that shape the lives of autistic young people with complex needs – and highlights how the right support can create lasting impact well into adulthood.

“The Long Road; Stories of love, hope and autistic young people with complex needs” features current Prior’s Court young person Zac, and Prior’s Court ‘alumni’ Peter and Jenny, and their families.

The focus is on the struggles autistic young people with complex needs and their families go through before a child comes to Prior’s Court, but also how there are lifelong worries for parents about what happens in adulthood for these young people.

Jenny and Peter’s families talk about how their children’s lives were transformed in their time at Prior’s Court, setting them up for fulfilling and happy adulthoods – but also presenting a nuanced picture that SEN families still must fight for their children throughout their entire lives.

As Mark Sutcliffe, Jenny’s father, puts it in the film: “Believe, have ambition, infinite calm, and patience and structure and repetition and it will all work out.”

Dan Whiteway, Prior's Court Marketing & Communications Manager, said: “This is a short film that packs a punch as it explores topics that are emotional, complex and challenging. From the battles determined families face for provision for their children and the despair at coming to realise the family home isn’t the best place for your child, to what young people like those at Prior’s Court can achieve when given the right support – and throughout it all, the love within these families.

“This film focuses on Prior’s Court and how the impact the work we do empowers autistic young people with complex needs for the rest of their lives. But the wider point isn’t that Prior’s Court and our approach is the only solution – it is that the right support, in the right place at the right time for young people like those at Prior’s Court provides a lifelong impact that benefits everyone.

“Our thanks to the families of Zac, Peter and Jenny for sharing their stories, to The Linden Allotment and JubyLee Bakes for allowing us to film at their sites, and to SubMotion Productions, the videographers who brought this story to life so vividly and passionately.”

The film is dedicated to the memory of our Founding Patron Dame Stephanie Shirley who passed away in August.

Dan added: “The experience of Dame Stephanie and her son Giles is the reason Prior’s Court is here. Those deeply personal experiences continue to resonate with families we work with as they are shared experiences for families such as Zac, Peter and Jenny – and always will be.”