Kim Peek

Laurence Kim Peek (November 11, 1951 – December 19, 2009) was an American savant. Known as a "megasavant", he had an exceptional memory and exceptional intelligence, but he also experienced social difficulties, possibly resulting from a developmental disability related to congenital brain abnormalities. He was the inspiration for the character Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 movie Rain Man. Although Peek was previously diagnosed with autism, he is now thought to have had FG syndrome.

Early life, family and education

Laurence Kim Peek was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, a condition in which the nerves that connect the two hemispheres of the brain are missing; in Peek's case, secondary connectors, such as the anterior commissure, were also missing. When he was 9 months old, Kim was designated "retarded" Peek resided in Murray, Utah, and spent a considerable amount of his time reading at the Salt Lake City Library (about away ).

Although displaying significant mental abilities and deficits, Peek did not walk until he was four years old, and even then in a sidelong manner; At age 7, Kim attended school, but he was subsequently tutored privately; by age 14 he had completed a high school curriculum, but the local school system would not recognize his achievement.

Activity before and after Rain Man During his adult life, Peek attended the Columbus Center, earning $40 a week completing payrolls for 86 employees of the Salt Lake City School District. In 1984, screenwriter Barry Morrow met Peek in Arlington, Texas. Morrow was so impressed by Peek and his abilities that Morrow determined to write a feature film centered on a character like Kim. The result was the 1988 Academy Award-winning feature film Rain Man. The character of Raymond Babbitt, inspired by Peek, was depicted as being a person with autism. Dustin Hoffman, who portrayed Babbitt in the film, met Peek and other individuals that displayed savant mannerisms, studying their characteristics and nature in order to play the role as accurately as possible.

The movie led to many requests for appearances, both in-person and on television, which increased Peek's self-confidence.

A 2008 study concluded that Peek probably had FG syndrome, a rare X chromosome-linked genetic syndrome that causes physical anomalies such as hypotonia (low muscle tone) and macrocephaly (abnormally large head).

Appearances The Boy with the Incredible Brain, a BBC documentary Brainman, a Discovery Channel documentary Inside the Rain Man, a Discovery Channel documentary Everything You Need to Know – The Brain, a Discovery Channel documentary Human Computer, a Discovery Channel documentary Medical Incredible, a Discovery Health Channel documentary The Real Rain Man, a Discovery Health Channel documentary; premiered on November 26, 2006 Ripley's Believe It or Not! CNN interview by Richard Quest "The Real Rain Man", a 2006 episode of RTL Group's Extraordinary People Speaker at the Oxford Union 60 Minutes Accidental Genius, a National Geographic Channel documentary "Genius", an episode of Superhuman, Science Channel; premiered November 7, 2008 Den Riktiga Rain Man (The Real Rain Man), a Swedish documentary; broadcast July 6, 2006 on Sweden's TV4 Michael Vey 4