This article or section is missing citations and/or footnotes. This article or section contains insufficiently sourced phrases. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. You may improve the article or discuss this issue on its talk page. Help on using footnotes is available. This article has been tagged since February 2007. Image File history File links Information. ...

Kim Peek (born November 11, 1951), is a savant with a photographic or eidetic memory and developmental disabilities, possibly resulting from congenital brain abnormalities. He was the inspiration for the character of Raymond Babbit, played by Dustin Hoffman, in the movie Rain Man.  ©  This image is copyrighted. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... An autistic savant (historically described as idiot savant) is a person with both autism and Savant Syndrome. ... Eidetic memory, photographic memory, or total recall, is the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with great accuracy and in seemingly abundant volume. ... Mental retardation (abbreviated as MR), is a term for a pattern of persistently slow learning of basic motor and language skills (milestones) during childhood, and a significantly below-normal intellectual capacity as an adult. ... Italic text // ahh addiing sum spiice iin hurr`` For other uses, see Brain (disambiguation). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Rain Man is a 1988 film which tells the story of a selfish yuppie who discovers that his father has left all of his estate to the autistic brother he never knew he had. ...

Kim Peek was born with macrocephaly, damage to the cerebellum, and, perhaps most important, agenesis of the corpus callosum, a condition in which the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain is missing; in Peek's case, secondary connectors such as the anterior commissure are also missing. There is speculation that his neurons make other connections in the absence of a corpus callosum, which results in an increased memory capacity.^[1] Macrocephaly (from the greek words μακρύς, meaning long, and κεφάλη, meaning head), a type of cephalic disorder, is a condition in which the head circumference is larger than average for the age and sex of the infant or child. ... The cerebellum (Latin: little brain) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in the integration of sensory perception and motor output. ... Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (ACC) is a rare birth defect (congenital disorder) in which there is a complete or partial absence of the corpus callosum. ... The Anterior Commissure (precommissure) is a bundle of white fibers, connecting the two cerebral hemispheres across the middle line, and placed in front of the columns of the fornix. ...

According to Peek's father, Fran, Peek was able to memorize things from the age of 16-20 months. He read books, memorized them, and then placed them upside down on the shelf to show that he had finished reading them, a practice he still maintains. He reads a book in about an hour and remembers approximately 98% of everything he has read, memorizing vast amounts of information in subjects ranging from history and literature, geography, and numbers, to sports, music, and dates. He can recall some 12,000 books from memory. Peek can also do formidable calculations in his head, a skill that serves him well in his day job, where he prepares payroll worksheets. He has worked at a day workshop for adults with disabilities since 1969.^[2] A day job is a form of occupation taken by a person in order to make ends meet while working another low-paying (or non-paying) job in their preferred career track. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ...

Peek did not walk until the age of four and still walks in a sidelong manner.^[3] He cannot button up his shirt and has difficulty with other ordinary motor skills, presumably due to his damaged cerebellum, which normally coordinates motor activities. In psychological testing, Peek has scored well below average on general IQ tests; however he has scored very highly in some subtests. The mixed results have led to the conclusion that such tests are not an adequate tool to measure Peek's abilities. IQ tests are designed to give approximately this Gaussian distribution. ...

Fran and Kim Peek, courtesy Darold A. Treffert, MD, and Wisconsin Medical Society.

Unlike many savants, Peek has shown increasing social skills, perhaps due to the attention that has come with being perceived as the "real Rain Man." His father says that his sense of humor has been emerging since 2004 or so. Also, he has developed well beyond the stage of being a mere repository of vast amounts of information; his skills at associating information he remembers are at least one of the signs of creativity. He still displays difficulty with abstractions such as interpreting the meanings of proverbs or metaphorical turns of speech. Although never a musical prodigy, Peek's musical abilities as an adult are receiving more notice now that he has started to study the piano. He apparently remembers music he heard decades ago and can play it on the piano, to the extent permitted by his limited physical dexterity. He is able to give running spoken commentary on the music as he plays, comparing a piece of music, for example, to other music he has heard. In listening to recordings he can distinguish which instruments play which part and is adept at guessing the composers of new music by comparing the music to the many thousands of music samples in his memory.  ©  This image is copyrighted. ...  ©  This image is copyrighted. ... The word physician should not be confused with physicist, which means a scientist in the area of physics. ... For the music piece by Steve Reich see Proverb (Reich) Look up proverb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up metaphor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ...

In 1984, script writer Barry Morrow met Peek in Arlington, Texas; the result of the meeting was the 1988 movie Rain Man. The character of Raymond Babbit, although inspired by Peek, was portrayed as having autism. Dustin Hoffman, who played Babbit, met Peek and other savants to get an understanding of their nature and to play the role with accuracy. The movie caused a number of requests for appearances, which has increased Peek's self-confidence. Barry Morrow has given Kim his Oscar to carry with him and show at these appearances. They call it the "Most Loved Oscar Statue" since it's been held by more people than any other Oscar Statue. Kim also enjoys approaching strangers and showing them his talent for calendar calculations by telling them on which day of the week they were born and what news items were on the front page of major newspapers. Peek has also appeared on television. He travels with his father, who takes care of him and performs many motor tasks that Peek finds difficult.^[4] Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ... Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas (USA) within the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Rain Man is a 1988 film which tells the story of a selfish yuppie who discovers that his father has left all of his estate to the autistic brother he never knew he had. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ...

In 2004, NASA scientists examined Peek with a series of tests including computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The intent was to create a three-dimensional view of his brain structure and to compare the images to MRI scans done in 1988. These are the first tentative approaches in using new and non-invasive technology to discover just how a person with an "abnormal brain" can do the things that he does.^[5] shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States federal government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... Magnetic Resonance Image showing a median sagittal cross section through a human head. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ...

Appearances

• Kim also made a short appearance on Medical Incredible, a Discovery Health Channel show, and on Discovery Channel where he met with another savant, Daniel Tammet, and gave a short interview.

• Also made an appearance with Daniel Tammet in "Brainman", a Discovery Channel Documentary.

• In addition, he made an appearance on Ripley's Believe it or Not.

• Kim has also appeared on CNN, being interviewed by Richard Quest.

• There was a one-hour special on the Discovery Channel about the life of Kim Peek called "Inside the Rain Man".

• A one-hour show called "The Real Rain Man" premiered on Discovery Health on November 26, 2006.

• Kim appeared twice on British FIVE TV's "Extraordinary People": in his own episode "The Real Rainman" and in "The Boy With Incredible Brain", in which Daniel Tammet, also a savant, wanted to meet Kim on his way to San Diego Institute of Brain Studies. Daniel considers Kim as his inspiration, Kim said to Daniel that he will be one day known as "A new Rain Man".

• Kim (and his father) were speakers at the inaugural meeting of the Athanasius Kircher Society.^[1]

Discovery Health Channel (or DHC), launched on August 2, 1999, is a U.S. cable television network dedicated to programming that highlights various aspects of health and wellness (and unwellness as well). ... Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel distributed by Discovery Communications that provides non-fiction variety programming focused primarily on the themes of popular science, history, and knowledge about the world. ... Daniel Paul Tammet (b. ... Ripleys Believe It or Not! deals in the bizarre—events and items so strange and unusual that it is often hard to believe that they actually exist--but they do: believe it. ... Richard Austin Quest (born March 9, 1962 in Liverpool) is an extremely irritating British news anchor based in London on the Cable News Network edition CNN International. ... Look up savant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

References

2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 7 is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Kim Peek

• Kim Peek-The Real Rain Man - Wisconsin Medical Society
• Kim Peek - Savant
• The Real Rain Man, Discovery Channel on Google Video
• Video of the Athanasius Kircher Society Presentation