Kim Peek, Mega-Savant, dies.

Kim Peek, the internationally renowned mega-savant, has died of a heart attack. He was only 58.

Though he had a massive heart attack on Saturday morning, his death was not announced until today.

Now, I was rather surprised by his death - not because 58 year olds don't die - but because our lives had crossed, peripherally and so he seemed, therefore, so much more alive than he otherwise would have been.

Kim Peek appeared in the ITV show Superhuman Genius, along with my son, Ainan. Now, the two never met, their filming being in different continents, but they did appear in the same show. That fact gave me an awareness of Kim Peek, his life and his particular special qualities beyond that of the casual reader.

It is a far from gentle reminder of the fragility and unpredictabilty of life that Kim Peek should die the year following the TV show.

Kim Peek was primarily known for his phenomenally retentive memory and, by the end of his life, he had mastered fifteen areas, including history, geography, music, sports and literature. Though highly gifted in some ways, he was disabled in others, having poor motor skills, being unable to dress himself and having been born with a separation of both sides of his brain.

He was most famed for being the inspiration behind "Rain Man" - yet I think the real life Kim was far more interesting than the fictional character he inspired.

The world has lost a unique individual, who overcame great personal difficulties, to live a life that touched many people. He made a habit of travelling the world, to talk to large audiences and show them his gifts. In doing so, he helped change people's attitudes towards the disabled.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Superhuman Genius Documentary ITV1 and ITV2

Last night, Ainan, eight, appeared in a documentary on ITV1 in the UK, entitled "Superhuman Genius". He was one of five people featured, including the American savant, Kim Peek, the American child prodigy artist, Akiane, Ben Pridmore, the UK Memory Champion and Ariel Lanyi, an Israeli child prodigy pianist.

The show is being repeated tonight at 9 pm on ITV2, for those able to catch it, in the UK.

I haven't seen the show myself but I understand it showed Ainan at work on Chemistry at Singapore Polytechnic.

Filming the show was an enjoyable experience for Ainan and one that opened him up a bit, I feel. He is unlearning his essential shyness, year by year and experiences like this are a help.

For those able to see the show it just offers a glimpse of Ainan at work - there is a lot more to be told. It is, however, an introduction to him and his work.

So, do tune in to Superhuman Genius, ITV2, if you are in the UK this evening.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

What is Savant Syndrome?

I wonder, sometimes, whether all the searchers who arrive on my site looking for "genius and savants"...or "Is my child a savant?" actually know what a savant is. I think there is much confusion about as to the distinction between a savant, a genius and a prodigy. I will therefore look at what a savant is.

Savant Syndrome is the presence of an extraordinary mental ability - of a particular limited set of kinds - in an individual who usually has some disability. It is found innately in some autistic individuals - or may sometimes be induced in previously normal people through damage to the left side of the brain. This indicates either that it is a form of compensation for left brain damage - or that the left-brain was masking its presence, until damaged and the gift could shine through.

Savants have one or more splinter skills: very deep, but very narrow abilities in such areas as maths, music or sometimes art, which allow them to display an extraordinary skill - such as lightning calculation, or the recall of long pieces of music, numbers or speech - at a single hearing. Other skills noted include calendar calculation - noting the day of the week of any day over tens of thousands of years - estimating distances accurately; telling the time without a watch; acquiring random information in a usually very narrow field at a single exposure - such as number plates, or telephone numbers and the like.

Some of the searchers to my site, seem to be unaware that there is a major difference between savant and genius. A savant is not a genius - and a genius is not a savant (though some geniuses have had savant like skills). Most savants are impaired in their general intellectual functions, though savant like gifts can exist in unimpaired individuals (but these people are not, then, called savants). The key difference between savant and genius is that a savant is not creative; whilst a genius is creative by definition.

Perhaps the most famous savant, of modern times, is Kim Peek, the inspiration for Rain Man. He is unusual in many more ways than that, however, being non-autistic - but having no corpus callosum - meaning his brain is actually two separate halves. Kim Peek has a photographic memory and can recall the contents of thousands of books word for word.

As for the difference between savant and prodigy: a savant has an over-development of at least one lower level thinking skill; a prodigy has a precocious over-development of higher level thinking skills that allow them to tackle an adult domain, while still a child.

I hope that clarifies the distinction between savant, and other forms of "gift", somewhat.

(If you would like to read of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and six months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three, and Tiarnan, sixteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults, and gifted children in general. Thanks.)