By Luciana Loureiro
Kim Peek is the man behind the character of Raymond Babbit, played by Dustin Hoffman in the movie 'Rain Man.'
Peek visited the BYU campus, sponsored by the School of Social Work, sharing his photographic memory and unusual abilities Thursday, Mar. 16, 2006.
Peek is a megasavant, a mentally handicapped person who possesses a remarkable aptitude for memorization and rapid mental calculation. His photographic memory has allowed him to memorize approximately 9,000 books, said Fran Peek, his father.
Peek spent nearly an hour answering questions on diverse subjects, including the ZIP codes and area codes of random cities.
'Does he know about Monte Vista, Colorado?' asked a BYU student in attendance at the Benson Building.
Peek quickly replied, '852 is your prefix. 719 is the area code.'
'He remembers everything,' Fran Peek said. 'We didn''t know until Rain Man.'
Peek spends six to eight hours a day reading. He takes about 12 seconds to read a page. After the book is read, he replaces it on the shelf upsidedown to know what he has already read, his father said.
Peek is mainly interested in studying U.S. history, current events, geography, ZIP codes and literature, especially William Shakespeare.
When Peek was 9 months old, his father took him to a neuropsychiatrist who said Peek would never be able to walk, learn or work.
Peek was born with his brain one-third larger than normal size. He was first diagnosed with an IQ of 72. After a brain conference and an extended IQ test, a team of three doctors realized Kim had an IQ of 184, compared to Albert Einstein, who had an IQ of 149 and Joseph Smith, Jr., who had an IQ of 137.
Peek never went to school. Rather, he was tutored at home starting at age 7, and finished high school at age 14.
Fran Peek said his son would tell the tutors that it was easier to start in the back of a book and work forward.
Despite his disability, Peek was able to show his sense of humor during the presentation.
'Nobody ever taught me how to swim,' Peek said when his dad asked him why he has not converted to Mormonism.
Throughout the presentation Peek displayed his remarkable gifts and hoped to inspire others.
'Learning to recognize and to respect differences in others and treating them like you want them to treat you will bring the peace and joy we all hope for,' he said. 'Let''s care, share - be our best!'
(For comments, e-mail Luciana Loureiro at lucy_the_awesome@hotmail.com)