JAMESTOWN (AP) - A new program to help treat autistic children in North Dakota aims to provide a doctor's appointment in a family's own living room.

The Great Plains Autism Spectrum Disorders Treatment Program is a partnership between the Anne Carlsen Center for Children in Jamestown and the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities at Minot State University.

"This is going to be an exciting collaboration," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who helped secure $400,000 in federal funding last year to help develop the program.

The money is for staffing and also to provide families with a Web camera and a high-speed Internet connection. Doctors and experts can then visit with the families in their homes without either party having to travel.

"We're trying to reduce windshield time," said Brent Askvig, associate director of the Center for Persons with Disabilities.

The program also gives experts an insight into how the child acts in the home, said Dan Howell, chief executive officer of the Anne Carlsen Center for Children.

One in every 238 North Dakota children is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, according to Bryce Fifield, executive director of the Center for Persons with Disabilities.

Seven families have signed up for the new program so far. Askvig said that if the program works, he hopes federal funding will double or triple in the coming years.