June 26, 2023
- The first person to be diagnosed with autism has died at age 89. Donald Triplett, passed away from cancer in his hometown of Forest, Mississippi. Leo Kanner published his seminal paper “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact” in 1943, which outlined data on eleven children with similar behaviors. Donald was part of Kanner’s original cohort and considered case number one. Kanner used the term “early infantile autism” when diagnosing Triplett that same year.
- According to a new brief report, the majority of school-age children with autism living in an urban and ethnically diverse population presented with one or more comorbid diagnoses. Specifically, elementary school-age children were more likely to have an additional diagnosis of language disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). At the same time, adolescents were more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
- New research shows that health changes or illnesses can cause challenging behaviors in people with autism. Specifically, the authors found that appetite or dietary preferences, irritability and low mood, and loss of previously acquired skills were associated with changes in health. Based on these findings, the researchers suggest that caregivers should look for distress behaviors to better manage healthcare for those on the spectrum.
- The North Syracuse Central School District has settled a lawsuit for $1.55 million that alleged a student with autism did not receive the proper resources and care. The family sued in 2018 when their son was five, claiming that the district refused to provide Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy and a teaching assistant trained to offer it, violating federal law. The student was nonverbal with limited motor, cognitive, and social skills. The family expects their settlement will be mainly used for their child’s long-term care expenses.
