Dental experts have teamed up with the parents of autistic youngsters to create an online advice centre to help them look after their children's teeth.

ALEXANDER, N. C. -- Aubreigh Osborne has a new best friend. Dressed in blue with a big ribbon in her blond curls, the 3-year-old sat in her mother's lap carefully enunciating a classmate's first name after hearing the words "best friend.

"Name one nonspeaking autistic to get into an Ivy League grad school," writes Woody Brown, a nonspeaking author with autism, via email, having recently received an MFA from Columbia University.