Kim Peek, The Case That Inspired The Story Of Rain Man
Kim Peek’s compelling story reminds us that human beings are wonderfully different. Moreover, the good and the bad, the best and the worst are relative concepts in our world. The whole planet learned of his existence thanks to the superb film Rain Man , which trained him with his talent and his tragedy.
Kim Peek, the real Rain Man , inspired the film and the thread of the script. Nonetheless, his real life was for the most part different from what was shown on the screen. This production left a stone mark on the history of cinema, but also on the existence of the person who inspired it.
Perhaps Kim Peek’s story turns out to be more fascinating than Rain Man’s. This is so true that it is estimated that more than 2 million people have sought to interact with him. Several documentaries have also been made on him. NASA itself took an interest in the life of this man who had inspired one of the best films of the 20th century.
Kim Peek, a “mentally retarded”?
Kim Peek’s diagnosis when he was born in 1951 was: mentally retarded. He was born with a disability. Doctors therefore advised that he be interned in a specialized center. His family disagreed with the advice. They wanted to keep Kim with them and that’s what they did.
Kim Peek suffered from macrocephaly. This assumed that he would not complete his physical and mental development. His brain was too large and devoid of the corpus callosum, an area that connects the hemispheres. Thus, the prognosis was not very favorable.
Nonetheless, Kim’s parents realized that their son was special in so many ways. At only 1.5 years old, he was able to memorize every book they read to him. It was a surprising ability that they didn’t know how to handle.
Kim’s wonderful brain
Kim Peek’s parents noticed that their child was holding the entire books. They just had to read it to him once for this to happen. When he read a book himself, he turned it over and never looked at it again. He didn’t need it anymore, he had already memorized it.
At only 3 years old, he learned to consult the dictionary. He read the definitions and learned them. He is said to have managed to memorize an impressive 9,000 books. He had the ability to read one page with the right eye and the other with the left eye. Also, he was reading at a very fast pace. Indeed, he read 2 pages in barely 10 seconds.
Likewise, Kim was able to perform complex mathematical operations in record time. He would take the phone book and add up the numbers in a column in seconds, just for fun. Later, he was thus able to manage the accounting of a company without the aid of a calculator or paper.
A beautiful life
Unlike the Rain Man in the movie, Kim was a loving person. He enjoyed social contact and responded with understanding and love to anyone who approached him. Despite his superhuman memory, he could not draw conclusions from his readings or apply his mathematical knowledge to activities other than arithmetic.
He also suffered from several motor problems. He only walked when he was 4 years old. As an adult, he couldn’t button his shirt or tie his laces.
Rain Man screenwriter Barry Morrow bumped into him during a talk about people with special limitations and potentials. Morrow had already made a film on this subject but he was captivated by the meeting with Kim.
He wrote the screenplay for Rain Man . Dustin Hoffman, who played the character, also met Kim. He has expressed his admiration for her on numerous occasions. He thanked his contribution during his Oscar for his acting in this film.
As for Kim Peek, he was also touched by stardom. Her father said it had a positive influence on her life. Indeed, this allowed him to benefit, more than ever, from contact with others. This wonderful man, who was born to teach us something more about human paradoxes, died of cardiac arrest in 2009 at the age of 58.
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