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John Donvan (l), Caren Zucker

POSTED: 6:42 pm PST February 15, 2012

UPDATED: 7:21 pm PST February 15, 2012

SAN DIEGO -- Most people are familiar with the character Raymond from the hit movie "Rain Man," but most would not know actor Dustin Hoffman based part of his Oscar-winning portrayal of Raymond on San Diego artist Mark Rimland. "He had lunch with Dustin Hoffman back during the making of the film," explained ABC News correspondent John Donvan.Rimland is one of many fascinating figures Donvan and news producer Caren Zucker hope will help change attitudes in their book about autism.Donvan's brother-in-law and Zucker's son have autism. Donvan's role as an ABC News correspondent and Zucker's position as a news producer helped them glean autism stories over the years. However, the book is not about work, it's a labor of love."Nobody knows the back story so we decided to tell that story," said Donvan. "San Diego comes up in the history of autism a lot of times."For example, in the 1960s San Diegan Bernard Rimland, Mark's father, turned the autism world on its ear with research that showed bad mothers were not the cause of autism."That was absolutely, absolutely considered the official version of what was the cause of autism," according to Donvan.Zucker said, "He was every family's hero really because he just sort of said this is, you know, baloney."Their book will introduce readers to the first person diagnosed with autism, Donald Triplett. Triplett is known as "Case One" and is now in his 70s.Donvan and Zucker said because Triplett's Mississippi community accepted him, he thrived. That is what they are hoping their book will inspire."Whatever it takes to let acceptance happen, it can make an enormous impact on the life of somebody with autism," said Donvan."The awareness just makes people much more accepting," added Zucker.Donvan and Zucker were invited to speak Wednesday night by the Stein Education Center, which grew out of the first children's autism program in San Diego.The book is expected to be out in 2013.For more information on the book, visit VistaHill.org.

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San Diego's Part In Autism History Cited In Book