First Person Diagnosed With Autism, Known As 'Case 1' Is Still Alive

In this date and age, more and more people we hear about getting diagnosed with autism, and even though these diagnoses are becoming increasingly common, this is a relatively new development, and for many years, people didn't understand the disorder at all.

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Autism Spectrum Disorder is a condition that affects social interaction, communication, interests and behavior in a number of varying ways, and to this day we're still learning new ways in which autism affects people.

As a matter of fact, the developments in our understanding of autism are still recent, and the first person to ever be clinically diagnosed with the condition - known as Case 1 - is still alive.

Donald Triplett was born in 1933 in Mississippi, USA, and it wasn't long before his parents, Beamon and Mary Triplett, noticed there was something different about their eldest child.

The parents noted that their child was incredibly withdrawn and since he was young, he won't respond to his mother's voice or even meet her smile.

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Apart from this, Donald also used to interpret language in an entirely different manner and would often seem to mimic words and phrases without meaning, yet he showed many signs of strong intelligence.

Donald showed no interest in other children or socialising in any way, but by the age of two and a half, his phenomenal memory allowed him to recall songs he'd only heard once, pitch-perfect, the BBC reports.

Despite his intelligence, doctors gave orders that the young Donald at the age of three should be institutionalized in mid-1937, and at the age of three, he was sent away.

Donald's parents continued to visit their son every month and by the end of 1938, they'd had enough of him being locked away, and decided to remove the youngster from institutional care.

The worried parents took their child to see Dr Kanner in Baltimore, who was stumped by Donald's condition, as he didn't appear to fit into any of the psychological boxes which had already been established.

But, after some time studying Donald, and noticing other children with overlapping behaviours, Kenner established a ground-breaking paper, which laid the foundations of diagnosing autism as we know it today.

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After his confirmed diagnosis, Donald's mother worked with the professionals to help her son connect with the world, thus, proving to the world that Donald can also live a normal life if given possible conditions.

In 1958 he gained a Bachelor's degree in French from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi and then returned home to work in the bank owned by his family.