Donald Triplett (otherwise known as Case 1), the first person in the world to ever be clinically diagnosed with autism, lost his battle to cancer last week, at the age of 89. (Donald Gray Triplett's obituary) Don lived the entirety of his life in the rural town of Forest, Mississippi & was blessed to live in a community where he was nurtured, accepted, & loved by all who knew him. He was accepted for being exactly who he was, differences, quirks, & all, & was often described as "a great guy" by others who lived in his community. Don was a deeply introverted child who did not respond to his parents' gestures or voices, did not play or interact with other children, had his own way of using the English language, had a fascination with spinning objects, & was very distant from others, living in his own little world apart from his family & the rest of society. However, Don also had many special abilities, was extremely intelligent, & was always listening & learning. His interests included number patterns, music notes, letters of the alphabet, & the presidents of the United States. According to his father, when he was only a year old, Don "could hum & sing many tunes accurately." At two & a half years old, he sang entire Christmas carols, in perfect pitch, that he only heard his mother sing once. He could also perform rapid two & three digit mental multiplication, giving you the answer faster than you could get it on a calculator. However, this did not prevent him from being institutionalized. Don grew up during a time where doctors ordered parents of children who were not "normal" to put their children in an institution. This was so that the parents could try to forget their child & move on with their lives. So, this is what Beamon & Mary Triplett did in August 1937, when Don was just three years old. However, his parents visited him monthly & absolutely did not forget about Don. Despite the institution’s director trying to talk them out of it, Don's parents pulled him out just one year later, in August 1938. They recognized Don's gifts & wanted to do what they could to help their son live a happy & productive life. His parents first brought Don to Baltimore to see Austrian child psychiatrist Dr. Leo Kanner in October 1938. After several more visits with Don & seeing more children with similar behavior patterns, Dr. Kanner diagnosed Donald with autism in 1943. Donald was the first person in the world to receive this diagnosis, leading the world in the study of the complexities of autism & offering hope to families. Not only did Don graduate from high school (where he was accepted by his teachers & classmates); but in 1958; he graduated from Millsaps College; in Jackson, MS; where he was a part of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity & studied French & math. Don learned how to drive in his late-twenties, worked at a local bank that was partially owned by his father for sixty-five years, & lived in his own house (the house he grew up in). His hobbies were playing golf (which he did every day) & traveling by himself around the world. John Donvan & Caren Zucker interviewed Donald Triplett & those who knew him, chronicling his life story for an article in The Atlantic entitled Autism's First Child. In the video below, the authors tell the story behind their article, including how the tracked Don down.
Don was later featured in the book, In A Different Key, which was later adapted into a PBS documentary.
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Is Autism Really More Common In Males?: Statistically, boys are four times more likely to be autistic than girls, but because we know so much more about autism now than ever before, we are now questioning if it is actually more common in boys or if it is just more commonly diagnosed in boys. Since it was historically believed that autism was more prevalent in boys than in girls, scientists & doctors have focused their autism research on boys. Because of this, the diagnostic criteria for autism is modeled around male behavior. What we didn't know until very recently is that autism can look very differently in girls. Since autistic girls often have different traits that do not match the diagnostic criteria for autism, traits are easier to miss & are mistaken for other things, like shyness & social anxiety, which are much more socially acceptable in girls than in boys. Girls are also more likely to mask their autistic traits & may mimic appropriate social behaviors by copying behaviors that they see in everyday life & on tv in order to fit in. For example, many girls & women force themselves to maintain eye contact by looking in between someone's eyes rather than into them if eye contact makes them uncomfortable. (I do this until a certain level of comfort with a person is reached, which is when eye contact becomes comfortable & natural for me.) Masking is something that is much less common for boys & men to do. Girls are also often diagnosed with depression &/or anxiety, conditions that frequently coincide with autism, rather than with autism spectrum disorder itself. Because scientists & doctors just began learning about how autism presents itself differently in females within the past decade, many women in their twenties & older have just now been receiving the autism diagnoses that they deserve. Many of these late-diagnosed autistic women never presented stereotypical male autistic traits. These women tended to be evaluated for & diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder after having significant problems with things in their adult lives such as treatment-resistant mental health issues, employment, friendships, romantic relationships & more (all things I struggle with). Other women were diagnosed after their child(ren) was/were diagnosed & they recognized some of the same traits in themselves. I truly believe that the reason I was not diagnosed during childhood is because of my gender. What Does Autism Look Like In Females?:
Social Deficits
Pretend Play One of the most common traits of both male & female autism is not knowing how to participate in pretend play. However, it is more likely that this struggle will be noticed in boys because girls tend to be taught from a very young age to be little caretakers, taking care of a baby doll or a stuffed animal. Because boys tend to be not taught this, struggling with pretend play is much more obvious in males. However, I only knew how to play with baby dolls & stuffed animals. When my little cousin asked me to use her plastic horses & farm animals to engage in pretend play with her, that was a struggle for me. I would often ask my little three-year-old cousin what to say or do. My aunt bringing out a craft project for me to help my cousin with brought great relief! Special Interests One of the most common symptoms of both male & female autism is having a special interest. However, male special interests tend to be very specialized & technical, where female special interests tend to be more "normal." For females, the level of intensity of the interest is what is abnormal. Because of this, it can be harder to notice the difference between a "normal" interest & a special interest. Common special interests in females are:
Wheels Many autistic children have a fascination with spinning wheels that are on a toy truck or train, for example. However, because toy vehicles tend to be boy-specific toys & I was a very feminine girl, I didn't own any toys that had wheels other than a child-sized stroller I used to push my baby dolls & stuffed animals around in the neighborhood. Miscellaneous
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AuthorHello! My name is Kim, I didn't know I was autistic until I was in my thirties, & this is my story. Categories
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