Donald Triplett Was First Person to Be Diagnosed With Autism

The Mississippi man known as "Case 1," the first person to be diagnosed with autism, has died. Donald Triplett was the subject of a book titled In a Different Key, a PBS documentary film, BBC news magazine installment and countless medical journal articles. But to employees at the Bank of Forest, in a small city about 40 miles east of Jackson, he was simply "Don," WLBT-TV reported. Triplett died Thursday, confirmed Lesa Davis, the bank's senior vice president. He was 89. Triplett worked for 65 years at the bank where his father, Beamon Triplett, was a primary shareholder, the AP reports.

"Don was a remarkable individual," CEO Allen Breland said of Triplett, who was known as a fiercely independent savant. "And he kept things interesting." Triplett, a 1958 graduate of Millsaps College, enjoyed golf and travel and frequently flew to exotic locales, Breland said. "He was in his own world, but if you gave him two three-digit numbers, he could multiply them faster than you could get the answer on a calculator," he said. Triplett's autism diagnosis arose from a 22-page letter sent to a Johns Hopkins researcher in Baltimore containing telling observations by his parents about his aptitudes and behavior. The letter remains a primary reference document for those who study the disorder.

Oliver Triplett, Triplett's nephew, told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that his uncle's story offers hope to parents of children who are different. "They can see Don and a community who embraced him," he said. "As a whole, Forest encouraged him and accepted him. It gives people who have children on different levels of the spectrum hope that their children can live happy and full lives."