The old and the new way of understanding autistic lives: Reflections on the life of Donald Triplett, the first person diagnosed as autistic

Added on 11/11/2024

Type de contenu

Journal article of the type Editorial ( ; english)

Will Mandy
The old and the new way of understanding autistic lives: Reflections on the life of Donald Triplett, the first person diagnosed as autistic published in the journal "Autism" n°7, vol.27, 3 pages , doi: 10.1177/13623613231194476

Summary/Presentation

[First lines] Earlier this month (I write this in June 2023), Donald Gray Triplett III died at the age of 89, in his home in Forest, Mississippi. Mr Triplett was the first person to be diagnosed as autistic, after he was taken by his parents in the late 1930s to the clinic of the eminent child psychiatrist Dr Leo Kanner. Mr Triplett lived much of his life at a time when little was known of autism, when stigma against those with developmental differences abounded, and when thousands of atypical children were consigned to live away from mainstream society in institutions. On this basis, we might expect him to have had a difficult, unhappy life. But by all accounts, this was not the case. Instead, newspaper articles and his obituaries tell the story of a contented, comfortable man who lived on his own terms (e.g. Donovan & Zucker, 2010; Smith, 2023; Traub, 2023). After graduating high school and college, he worked in a bank. He travelled extensively and, after taking up the game in his early 20s, played golf most days. He was part of the social life of his community, for example, as a regular attendee of its coffee club at the Civic Hall. When a pair of journalists first came to Forest to find out about Mr Triplett’s story, several locals reportedly told them ‘If what you’re doing hurts Donald, I know where to find you’ (Donovan & Zucker, 2010). In his community, Mr Triplett’s neurodivergence does not seem to have been a barrier to acceptance.

For your information:

(1) References in blue are resources listed on our site.

(2) Authors listed in this bibliography whose names are in color have published other resources referenced on the site. Clicking on the name allows you to see the list of resources they have published and shared on the site.

(3) Authors whose names are followed by an asterisk have publicly disclosed being autistic.

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  • M. Lai, C. Kassee, R. Besney, S. Bonato, L. Hull, W. Mandy, P. Szatmari, S. Ameis (2019). "Prevalence of co-occurring mental health diagnoses in the autism population: a systematic review and meta-analysis". The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(10). doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(19)30289-5

  • W. Mandy, M. Murin, O. Baykaner, S. Staunton, R. Cobb, J. Hellriegel, S. Anderson, D. Skuse (2016). "Easing the transition to secondary education for children with autism spectrum disorder: An evaluation of the Systemic Transition in Education Programme for Autism Spectrum Disorder (STEP-ASD)". Autism, 20(5). doi:10.1177/1362361315598892

  • W. Mandy, M. Murin, O. Baykaner, S. Staunton, J. Hellriegel, S. Anderson, D. Skuse (2016). "The transition from primary to secondary school in mainstream education for children with autism spectrum disorder". Autism, 20(1). doi:10.1177/1362361314562616

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  • H. Smith (2023). "Donald Triplett, first person diagnosed with autism, dies at 89." The Washington Post. (Source)

  • A. Traub (2023). "Donald Triplett, 'case 1' in the study of autism, dies at 89." The New York Times. (Source)


 
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