IN SEARCH OF AUTISM’S PATIENT NO. 1

Have you ever wondered about the first person diagnosed with autism? Who was that person—and what became of them?

In the autumn of 2021, the heads of production at iHeart Originals approached Feature Well Productions co-founder Alex French, then a Senior Staff Writer at iHeartMedia, with a unique challenge. Bob Pittman, iHeart Media’s CEO, had heard about a man named Donald living in a small rural Mississippi town. Pittman believed his story needed to be told.

The project presented immediate hurdles. Donald Triplett, the first person ever diagnosed with autism, was elderly and deeply private. The townspeople were fiercely protective. But iHeart wanted a podcast that not only told Donald’s story—it had to capture the spirit of the community that embraced him.

Research led Alex to Caren Zucker and John Donvan, Emmy-winning journalists and co-authors of In a Different Key (Broadway Books, 2016), the definitive history of autism in America. They were open to collaborating—but only under strict terms. The podcast couldn’t rehash their reporting. The material had to be original. It had to reflect a full spectrum of autistic voices. And it had to complement—not cannibalize—the PBS documentary Caren and John had just completed based on their book. Ideally, it would breathe new life into both.

Working alongside iHeart’s Jason English and Virginia Prescott of School of Humans, Alex researched, conceptualized, and scripted Autism’s First Child—a six-episode limited series that brought intimacy, nuance, and fresh reporting to the remarkable story of Donald Triplett and the town that stood by him. You can listen to it HERE.

The Quiet Pioneering Life of Donald Triplett