Movie Reflection: The Real Rain Man

Dustin Hoffman plays an autistic savant with an impressive ability to recall details in the
film Rain Man, count hundreds of spilled toothpicks at a glance, and perform other amazing
mental feats. But as famous as that film remains, many do not know that the character of
Hoffman was based on an actual individual: the real Rain Man, Kim Peek.

And even more impressive was Peek's wonderful life than the movie lets on. Peek was
born with a brain that was truly exceptional, one that lacked the nerve cluster that links the two
hemispheres. But this abnormality led to some unexpected skills as he developed.

Peek was also able to memorize vast quantities of information by the age of two. He
also had an extraordinary skill, at an amazing speed, to read books. In under an hour, Peek
could finish most books while recalling almost everything he had read.

The fact that he could actually read two pages, one for each eye, at the same time
informs part of this skill. Kim Peek spent much of his life reading by searching the right page
with his right eye and the left page with his left eye.

This transformed Peek into a walking encyclopedia, combined with his incredible
capacity to store knowledge. For example, based on maps he had simply looked at once, Peek
might provide detailed driving directions to cities around the world.

In addition, there was a remarkable capacity for the real Rain Man to make mental
calculations involving calendars. You could give Peek any day in history, for instance, and he'd
be able to tell you which day of the week it fell on. He would also approach and amaze people
by asking them what day of the week they were born on the basis of their date of birth, as well
as some of the most significant events that occurred on that day.