The Education and Science Institute in Vietnam has warned that
the number of children with autism in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
has increased by nearly 160 times over eight years. Assoc. Prof.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen, deputy head of the institute, said
that the number of children diagnosed with autism is rising
sharply in Vietnam. The number of children with autism detected
by the Hanoi-based Central Pediatrics Hospital in 2007 was 50
times more than in 2000, and the number of autistic children
treated by the hospital in 2007 increased by 33 times from 2000.
The number of autistic children in HCMC increased from only two
in 2000 to 324, or 160 times higher, in 2008. The warning was
released this week at a seminar on care and education for
autistic children. The seminar was jointly held by the Vietnam
Association of Autistic Children, the United States Embassy in
Vietnam and the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund in
Hanoi. On March 13, Tuoitrenews.vn reported that, according to
medical websites, "There is