What We Learned From Autism’s First Child

Donald Triplett was 89 when he died, and for most of his life he was anonymous outside the small town of Forest, Mississippi. But when he was laid to rest this week, the news of his death traveled around the world.

In 1943, he was the boy identified only as “Case 1, Donald T” in the set of case histories that formed the foundation for the diagnosis of autism. He was, effectively, the first child diagnosed with autism.

We first Donald in in 2010 and explored his story in depth in our. Readers were surprised to learn that the diagnosis was so new—and we were surprised to find how inspiring his story proved.