Kim Peek, the case that inspired the story of Rain Man

Kim Peek’s life shows us that we know very little about our limits or potentialities. His existence is extreme proof that reality is paradoxical: each human being combines within himself enormous limitations with great talents.

Kim Peek’s fascinating story reminds us that Human beings are wonderfully different and that good and bad, best and worst are relative concepts. in the world we move in. The entire planet learned about him through the famous movie rain manwhich partly portrayed his talent and his tragedy.

Kim Peek, the real Rain Man, inspired the film’s script and the central story threads. However, his real life differed greatly from what was shown on tape. This production marked a milestone in the history of cinema, but also in the existence of the character who inspired it.

Perhaps the story of Kim Peek is more fascinating than that of Rain Man himself. So much so that it is estimated that more than two million people sought him out to interact with him. Also several documentaries were made about his case and even NASA wanted to know in detail who this man was sweet that had inspired one of the best films of the 20th century.

“Maybe I’m the star, but you Kim are the sky“.

-Dustin Hoffman-

Kim Peek, a “mentally retarded”?

The diagnosis that Kim Peek received when he was born, in 1951, was that: mental retardation. He came into the world with a disability and that is why the doctors advised that he be admitted to a specialized center. Her family did not agree with the advice. They wanted Kim with them and that’s how it happened.

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Kim Peek had macrocephaly and this meant that she would not complete her physical and mental development. His brain was excessively large and lacked the corpus callosum, an area that connects the hemispheres. So the prognosis for his life was unfavorable..

However, Kim’s parents realized that their son was special in more ways than one. At barely a year and a half old, he was already able to memorize each of the books they read to him. It was an amazing ability that they didn’t know how to manage.

Kim’s wonderful brain

Kim Peek’s parents noticed that the boy kept the books complete; They only needed to be read once for this phenomenon to occur.. When he read a book himself, he would turn it face down and never refer to it again. He no longer needed it: he had memorized it.

At only three years old he learned to consult the dictionary. She read the meanings and learned them. It is said that in total he memorized an impressive 9,000 books.. She had the ability to read one page with her right eye and the other with her left eye. She also did it at a very fast pace: he completed two pages in just 10 seconds.

In addition, Kim was able to perform complex mathematical operations in record time. He would take the phone book and add the numbers in a column in seconds, just to entertain himself. That’s why when he grew up he was able to keep the total accounting of a company without the help of a calculator or paper.

a beautiful life

Unlike the Rain Man in the movie, Kim was a caring person. He enjoyed social contact and responded with understanding and affection to anyone who addressed him. Although his memory was gifted, he could not draw conclusions from his readings or apply his mathematical knowledge to activities other than calculation.

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He also had several motor problems. He only walked until he was 4 years old and reached adulthood without being able to button his shirt or tie his shoes..

Barry Morrow, the screenwriter of Rain Man, met him by chance at an event about people with special limitations and potentialities. Morrow had already made a film about this subject, but he was stunned when he met Kim.

This led him to write the script for rain man. Dustin Hoffman, who played the character, also met Kim and expressed his admiration for her on multiple occasions. He publicly thanked her for his contribution when he won the Oscar for his performance in this film.

As for Kim Peek, he was also caught up in fame. His father assures that this had a positive influence on his life, since it allowed him to enjoy contact with others like never before.. This wonderful man, who came into the world to teach us something more about human paradoxes, died of cardiorespiratory arrest in 2009, at the age of 58.