Kim Peek

Kim Peek (born November 11, 1951) was the inspiration for the character of Raymond Babbit in the movie Rain Man, which was modified to be an autistic savant. He has an eidetic memory.

Related Topics:
November 11 - 1951 - Rain Man - Autistic savant - Eidetic memory

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Kim Peek was born with macrocephaly and missing corpus callosum, the connecting tissue between the brain hemispheres, damage to the cerebellum and no anterior commissure.

Related Topics:
Macrocephaly - Corpus callosum - Cerebellum

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Despite all this, according to Peek's father Fran, Peek was able to memorize things since he was 16-20 months old. He read books, memorized them and then put them upside down, a practice he still uses. Still, he did not walk until the age of four.

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Peek has worked at a day workshop for adults with disabilities since 1969. Peek has memorized an astonishing amount of information from subjects ranging from history and literature, geography and numbers, to sports, music and dates. He can recall some 9600 books from memory.

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Peek can also do calculations in his head; in his day job he has prepared information from worksheets for paychecks.

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In 1984, director Barry Morrow met Peek in Arlington, Texas; the result of the meeting was the 1988 movie Rain Man. Dustin Hoffman met Peek, as well as other autistic savants, to get better authenticity for the character. The movie also caused a number of requests for appearances that have increased Peek's self-confidence. Peek has also appeared on television. He travels with his father.

Related Topics:
1984 - Barry Morrow - Arlington, Texas - 1988 - Rain Man - Dustin Hoffman

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In 2004, NASA scientists submitted Peek to 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.

Related Topics:
2004 - NASA - MRI - 1988

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