The Mississippi man known as "Case 1," the first person to be diagnosed with autism, has died. Donald 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, the AP reports.
"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 frequently flew 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 said. Triplett's autism diagnosis arose from a 22-page letter sent to a Johns Hopkins researcher in Baltimore containing telling observations by his parents about his aptitudes and behavior. The letter remains a primary reference document for those who study the disorder.
Oliver Triplett, Triplett's nephew, told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that his uncle's story offers hope to parents of children who are different. "They can see Don and a community who embraced him," he said. "As a whole, Forest encouraged him and accepted him. It gives people who have children on different levels of the spectrum hope that their children can live happy and full lives."
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