Donald Gray Triplett (September 8, 1933 – June 15, 2023) was an American banker known for being the first person diagnosed with autism.

[2][3] Initially, Donald was a deeply introverted child who did not respond to his parents' gestures or voices.

His father described him as socially withdrawn but interested in number patterns, music notes, letters of the alphabet, and pictures of U.S. presidents.

As a young child, he developed an intense interest in spinning blocks, pans, and other round objects and a dislike for tricycles and swings.

[2] When the Tripletts visited the Harriet Lane Home in October 1938 to meet with Leo Kanner, he was eventually diagnosed as autistic.

"[2] When he returned home, his behavior seemingly improved, and he learned to play simple tunes on the piano.

From there, the history of autism would unfold across decades, playing out in many and varied dramatic episodes, bizarre twists, and star turns, both heroic and villainous, by researchers, educators, activists and autistic people themselves.However, Triplett and his family were distant from all this.

[1] Later, he returned to his supportive hometown, where he worked for 65 years at a local bank that was partially owned by his father.

[5] John Donvan and Caren Zucker interviewed Triplett, chronicling his life story for an article "Autism's First Child" in The Atlantic.