Donald Triplett

However, Donald Triplett and his family were distant from all this. He 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. Later, he returned to his supportive hometown where he worked at the bank that was owned by his family. He learned how to drive and travel around the world in his spare time.

Donald Gray Triplett (born September 8, 1933) is an American man known for being the first person diagnosed with autism. He was first diagnosed by Leo Kanner, and was labeled as "Case 1". Triplett was noted for his savant abilities, particularly the ability to name musical notes played on a piano, and the ability to perform rapid mental multiplication.

Donald Triplett was born to Beamon and Mary Triplett. Initially, Donald was a deeply introverted child who did not respond to his parents' gestures or voices. His language was unusual, he did not play with other children, and he seemed distant from others. Triplett was institutionalized at three years of age, but his parents pulled him out one year later. His father, Beamon, described him as socially withdrawn but interested in number patterns, music notes, letters of the alphabet, and U.S. president pictures. At the age of 1, Kanner states "he could hum and sing many tunes accurately." His parents had great difficulty in getting him to eat and watching other children eating candy or ice cream did not seem to tempt him. By the age of 2, he had the ability to recite the 23rd Psalm in the Old Testament and memorized 25 questions and answers from some unspecified Presbyterian catechism (likely either the Westminster Larger or Shorter Catechism). He was also interested in creating musical chords. He was very interested in rhymes and would answer questions with only one word, usually "yes" or "no." At this age, he developed a very intense interest in spinning blocks, pans and other round objects and a dislike for tricycles and swings. He was initially uninterested in slides but began to play on them when he was alone. He had many meltdowns and was afraid of being spanked. He was however, unable to associate his meltdowns with the punishment. He 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. When entering a room, he went to the toys right away ignoring everyone else in the room, including other children and a Santa Claus actor his father had hired. His mother had difficulty with getting him to look at her.