Autism's First Child. This is incredibly interesting and amazingly written

[TalkingDog]

The history of Donald T. the first person labeled as autistic in the US. He is now 77. And a history of the disorder; theories on genesis and treatement from the time of it's discovery.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/10/autismand8217s-first-child/8227

In subsequent years, the scientific literature updated Donald T’s story a few times, a journal entry here or there, but about four decades ago, that narrative petered out. The later chapters in his life remained unwritten, leaving us with no detailed answer to the question Whatever happened to Donald?

There is an answer. Some of it we turned up in documents long overlooked in the archives of Johns Hopkins. But most of it we found by tracking down and spending time with Donald himself. His full name is Donald Gray Triplett. He’s 77 years old. And he’s still in Forest, Mississippi. Playing golf.

The question that haunts every parent of a child with autism is What will happen when I die? This reflects a chronological inevitability: children with autism will grow up to become adults with autism, in most cases ultimately outliving the parents who provided their primary support.

[madrchsod]

1. my wife takes care of those you wrote about.

she takes care of people in their 70`s and 80`s but most are bedridden.

donald t is a remarkable man.

[msongs]

2. thanks for sharing this interesting article and the community that accepted him nt

[Odin2005]

3. IIRC our own KamaAina was diagnosed by Leo Kanner.

Who introduced the diagnosis of Autism to the US.