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Mississippi man who was the first person to be diagnosed with autism in 1938, dies at 89: 'Case 1' worked at bank for 65 years, and was the subject of countless medical articles
Daily Mail ^ | 6/17/23 | James Gordon

Posted on 06/17/2023 4:41:38 AM PDT by Libloather

The Mississippi man known as 'Case 1,' the first person to be diagnosed with autism, has died.

Donald G. 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.

'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 was frequently flying 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 told the television station.

'I've known him all my life,' said his nephew OB to USA Today, who was with his uncle when he died peacefully. 'He was just a joy to be around. He'd bring a smile to your face every time you get around.'

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Education; Health/Medicine; History; Science
KEYWORDS: autism; diagnosed; medical; mississippi
In 1938, Triplett was examined by Austrian child psychiatrist Leo Kanner at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, who was initially baffled by the boy's symptoms, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

What a story.

1 posted on 06/17/2023 4:41:38 AM PDT by Libloather
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To: Libloather

“Mississippi man who was the first person to be diagnosed with autism in 1938”

...and then the medical community said: “Let’s get this thing rolling!!!”


2 posted on 06/17/2023 4:54:58 AM PDT by BobL
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To: Libloather

Talking Heads frontman David Byrne is different in this way. There’s a few videos on YouTube describing this. In a positive way actually, refreshingly.


3 posted on 06/17/2023 5:33:07 AM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: Libloather

When I was a kid, autism was a rare oddity. Now I would say the majority of kids have some sort of autism spectrum ailment. At the risk of being called old fashioned, I believe most “autism” “asperbergers” “oppositional defiance disorder” etc. are what we used to call “tantrums” and “lack of belt.”


4 posted on 06/17/2023 5:53:57 AM PDT by AbolishCSEU (Amount of "child" support paid is inversely proportionate to mother's actual parenting of children)
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To: BobL

Sounds like autism is another destructive progressive New Deal program


5 posted on 06/17/2023 6:00:16 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: Libloather
who was with his uncle when he died peacefully.

The decedent was 89. Which begs the question. 'How old is his uncle?'

6 posted on 06/17/2023 6:05:54 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: AbolishCSEU

Agree - lots of so-called “spectrum” cases could be cured by discipline and exercise.


7 posted on 06/17/2023 6:08:03 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: PAR35

My grandmother had an aunt who was younger than she was.


8 posted on 06/17/2023 6:27:54 AM PDT by PghBaldy (12/14/12 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15/12 - 1030am - Obama team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: Libloather

A lot can be explained by “learning channels”.

Some people learn best by auditory stimulation and some people learn best visually.

In the old days listening was the primary learning skill.

ADHD which is not exactly autism, but that is an argument for “professionals” or “experts” who prove time and time again that they know a lot and understand little.

Those either diagnosed or misdiagnosed with ADHD are usually not good visual learners.

Hence they have problems in structured environments almost entirely based on visual learning.

But it really doesn’t matter much anymore because there is really NO formal educational system.

Public schools have become nothing more than ports of indoctrination.

The REAL educational system is an informal one, namely electronic mass media which is being streamed 24/7 through a variety of devices.

Our youth are uneducated when it comes to things of any value but they are highly literate in what is being streamed to them.

The irony is they are neither good listeners nor are they good readers.

Their attention span won’t allow them to be.

They gather information in virtual bits and pieces and are unable to process it or store in any way that makes any sense or allows for emotional or intellectual growth.

If I were a tutor and in charge of a child’s education, I’d settle his brain down.

I’d have my student sit and listen to a symphony such as Mahler’s Ninth a particular favorite of mine.

I’d have the student sit and watch a silent film such as Buster Keaton’s The General.

Of course, there would be much reading.

The point being develop the auditory and visual learning channels separately.

Such exercises would develop imagination something sorely lacking in a world under attack 24/7 by mass media.

It’s takes NO imagination to watch a film or play a video game based on CGI or computer generated imagery.

And from what I’ve seen it doesn’t take much imagination to create the CGI.

FWIW I have taken an Asperger’s syndrome test online which probably has little validity, but I tested out as borderline probably because I am hypersensitive to all kinds of stimuli particularly auditory stimuli.

No matter how one’s brain is wired, there has NEVER been a better time to learn.

But that is the irony.

There has never been less true learning.

Gathering and disseminating information is not learning.


9 posted on 06/17/2023 7:16:49 AM PDT by Biblebelter
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To: AbolishCSEU

Uh no. It’s not lack of belt.

Go to an ABA treatment center. You will see very disabled kids.

Saying take a belt to them is like saying to beat a mentally retarded child until he becomes valedictorian.


10 posted on 06/17/2023 7:42:33 AM PDT by packagingguy
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To: PAR35

The phrase before indicates it was talking about the nephew who was with the decedant Don Triplett


11 posted on 06/17/2023 8:42:06 AM PDT by Steven Scharf
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To: Biblebelter

The latest information says there’s no such thing as learning channels, auditory or visual learning types of people.


12 posted on 06/17/2023 8:47:23 AM PDT by newzjunkey (We need a better Trump than Trump in 2024)
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To: Libloather
Gee. First person (born 1934) diagnosed with Autism at the dawn of the age of vaccines, following 8 new vaccines in the prior 17 years, preceding the mad rush of vaccines following polio in '55...and the consequent Autism 'epidemic'.

Couldn't possibly be any connection. /s


13 posted on 06/17/2023 8:54:42 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: logi_cal869

Maybe for some. But I personally know of too many cases that are obviously familial -— especially the Aspie savant type.


14 posted on 06/17/2023 9:18:00 AM PDT by LTC.Ret (I was MAGA when MAGA wasn't cool)
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To: LTC.Ret

Agree. I know of one family with an autistic child born in 1997, then fraternal twin half-siblings born in 2018, both autistic.

The twins were immunized at 6 weeks old with 5 vaccinations at once by their pediatrician.


15 posted on 06/17/2023 10:02:12 AM PDT by Blueway
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To: BobL

How many people who had symptoms that would put them ‘on the spectrum ‘ lived before anyone had known about autism? It seems that anyone who is just a little outside of average is now somewhere on this spectrum.


16 posted on 06/17/2023 11:11:57 AM PDT by jmcenanly (You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ― Winston)
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To: Libloather

I have high functioning Autism.


17 posted on 06/17/2023 12:13:45 PM PDT by cowboyusa (YESHUA IS KING OF ADCMERICA! AMERICA FIRST! DEATH TO MARXISM AND GLOBALISM!)
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To: newzjunkey

The latest information says there’s no such thing as learning channels, auditory or visual learning types of people.

It’s hard to keep up with the latest information.

Latest information says gender is fluid, as F Chuck Todd proclaimed gender is a spectrum.


18 posted on 06/17/2023 12:34:43 PM PDT by Biblebelter
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To: packagingguy

We will have to agree to disagree. I grew up in the sixties. Somehow we all managed despite not being “diagnosed” with something.
I have to think constant junk/fast food, zero exercise, constant screens is not doing anyone any favors.


19 posted on 06/17/2023 7:22:00 PM PDT by AbolishCSEU (Amount of "child" support paid is inversely proportionate to mother's actual parenting of children)
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To: AbolishCSEU

Well the junk food IS one suspect amongst scientists. Specifically herbicides and pesticides.

The other is vaccines.

The government says it’s genetics but you cannot have a genetic epidemic.


20 posted on 06/18/2023 9:31:22 AM PDT by packagingguy
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