Donald Gray Triplett was born on September 8,1933 and is an American man known for being the first person diagnosed with autism.
21 Facts About Donald Triplett
2.
Donald Triplett was first diagnosed by Leo Kanner, and was labeled as "Case 1".
3.
Donald Triplett was born on September 8,1933, to Beamon and Mary Triplett in Forest, Mississippi.
4.
Donald Triplett's language was unusual, he did not play with other children, and he seemed distant from others.
5.
Donald Triplett was institutionalized at three years of age, but his parents pulled him out one year later.
6.
Donald Triplett was initially uninterested in slides but began to play on them when he was alone.
7.
Donald Triplett had many meltdowns and was afraid of being spanked.
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Donald Triplett was however, unable to associate his meltdowns with the punishment.
9.
Donald Triplett displayed echolalia and had trouble with remembering pronouns, often using "you" to refer to himself and "I" to refer to the person he was speaking to.
10.
Donald Triplett's mother had difficulty with getting him to look at her.
11.
Donald Triplett had multiple visits, but when he returned he did not even look at the three physicians present, even though two remembered him from the previous visit.
12.
Donald Triplett instead headed to the desk to handle papers and books.
13.
Donald Triplett showed better concentration and responded more clearly to his environment and other people.
14.
Donald Triplett learned fifteen words from an encyclopedia and repeated them over and over without context.
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Donald Triplett continued to not look at people when talking or use expressive gestures.
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Donald Triplett's interest dissipated once he was given or told what he needed.
17.
Donald Triplett became interested in categorizing films and Time magazine issues by date of publication despite having little interest in the actual contents.
18.
Donald Triplett was enrolled in the local high school, where his teachers and classmates were accepting, and in 1958 he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in French from Millsaps College.
19.
Donald Triplett learned how to drive and traveled around the world in his spare time.
20.
Donald Triplett was tracked down by John Donvan and Caren Zucker so they could find out his life's story for an article "Autism's First Child" in The Atlantic.
21.
Donald Triplett was later featured in the book In a Different Key.