How many in 1.3 billion? Autism in China

An article in today’s People’s Daily Online reports that there are 5 million “autistic” in China, 650,000 of whom have “serious symptoms” and 800,000 of whom are 14 years old are less. The figures are reported by Jiao Min, a doctor at the Zhengzhou Children’s Hospital, who also notes that 80 percent of the parents whose children she has seen have never heard of autism. The population of China is over 1.3 billion (see the China Population Information Center for an updated figure).

The Kangda Training Center in Zhengzhou “trains” 60 children aged 3-5; the center opened in March of 2002 and some 300 children have passed through its doors. Notes the center’s director, Zhang Gui’e,

As the autistic children are generally silent, they are always mistreated as dumb and thus miss the proper time for cure, said Zhang. Some parents even ignore their children’s dumbness in the belief that “grandees talk late”.

The title of the article is People’s Daily Online article suggests the influence of the film Rainman in the perception of autism; it is Efforts in bringing sunshine to little rainmen.

To read about autism in Shanghai, go here. To read about a study on Epidemiologic Research on Autism in China, go here.