Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Brain - super - Powers
A Few Amazing Brains: Geniuses with Savant Syndrome
11/28/2007
If you happen to meet Kim Peek, a man from Arlington, Texas, he'll probably ask you when you were born. Then he'll tell you the year, and the exact day of the week, that you'll turn 65, just in case you want to consider retiring. He can also tell you what zip code you live in, and which highways to take to get to your house, no matter how far you are from home. Peek, nicknamed "Kim-Puter," knows as much about the Revolutionary War as any history professor and has memorized all of Shakespeare's soliloquies. His knowledge of NASA could rival John Glenn's.
One thing he can't do? Drive a car.
If Peek's amazing abilities sound strangely familiar, they should: He was the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman's card-counting autistic character in the movie Rain Man. Like Hoffman's character, Peek has what's known as "savant syndrome" – a rare condition, generally found in people with autism and other developmental disorders, in which individuals have high levels of proficiency in certain fields. Many autistic people have some level of savant syndrome, but Peek has what's known as "prodigious savant syndrome," marked by seemingly superhuman abilities, which would be astonishing even in a person without disabilities.
Kim Peek has an extraordinary ability to memorize everything he comes across. He has read thousands of books, and has memorized every single word of them, along with huge amounts of sports trivia, directions, and much more. But he's not the only spectacular savant around – from music to art to math, here are a few other amazing individuals you may not know about.
The Musical Maestro
When Tony DeBlois plays piano, his fingers fly across the keyboard so fast that you can barely see them. DeBlois isn't just a piano virtuoso, though – he can play 20 musical instruments, everything from English handbells to the ukelele. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston's prestigious music school, the Berklee College of Music.
DeBlois has overcome incredible odds to get where he is today. He was born three months early, weighing only one pound, and blind. He stayed in the hospital for fifteen weeks, hooked up to tubes and monitors, his chances uncertain. Eventually, he was well enough to go home with his family, but it wasn't long before he was diagnosed with autism and mental retardation.
At the age of two, he showed his first flash of brilliance. His mother had bought him a toy piano, and at first, he simply banged on it as most kids would. After a few weeks, though, his mother recognized a familiar song: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Her little boy had taught himself to play. And he hasn't stopped ever since. Check out this video to see DeBlois in action.
An Astonishing Artist
Many autistic savants also excel in the world of drawing, using their photographic memory to recreate the scenes before them in amazingly accurate detail, down to the position of the hands on a clock. One of the most famous artistic savants is Stephen Wiltshire, a mute and autistic 22-year-old man from London. Ten years ago, Wiltshire was taken on a helicopter ride over the entire city of London. When he returned home, he pulled out a pen and paper. Within three hours, he had drawn an intricate landscape of the entire city, showing every single building, street, and car that he had spotted from the air. Watch an amazing demonstration of his talents here.
The Brain Man
Finally, allow us to introduce you to Daniel Tammett, otherwise known as the "Brain Man." Tammett, who has a mild form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome, first came to worldwide prominence on March 14th, 2004 – otherwise known as Pi Day (3/14). To raise money for an epilepsy foundation, Tammett spent five straight hours reciting the numeric value of pi to the 22,514th decimal place, all from memory. Tammett, an epileptic, had picked up his remarkable memorization skills after a series of seizures as a child; he is one of the world's few "acquired savants," whose skills were sparked by some sort of brain injury or damage.
Ever since his childhood seizures, Tammett has been obsessed with numbers – his mathematics skills are prodigious. When asked to calculate 37 raised to the fourth power, he gave the correct answer within less than a minute. Tammett also has remarkable language skills, and learned the entire Icelandic language within a mere week.
These days, Tammett is sharing his skills with others, offering online tutoring courses in languages, math, and English at his website. To learn more about this ultra-intelligent young man, check out the amazing documentary about him, The Boy with the Incredible Brain, or read his memoir, Born on a Blue Day.
11/28/2007
If you happen to meet Kim Peek, a man from Arlington, Texas, he'll probably ask you when you were born. Then he'll tell you the year, and the exact day of the week, that you'll turn 65, just in case you want to consider retiring. He can also tell you what zip code you live in, and which highways to take to get to your house, no matter how far you are from home. Peek, nicknamed "Kim-Puter," knows as much about the Revolutionary War as any history professor and has memorized all of Shakespeare's soliloquies. His knowledge of NASA could rival John Glenn's.
One thing he can't do? Drive a car.
If Peek's amazing abilities sound strangely familiar, they should: He was the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman's card-counting autistic character in the movie Rain Man. Like Hoffman's character, Peek has what's known as "savant syndrome" – a rare condition, generally found in people with autism and other developmental disorders, in which individuals have high levels of proficiency in certain fields. Many autistic people have some level of savant syndrome, but Peek has what's known as "prodigious savant syndrome," marked by seemingly superhuman abilities, which would be astonishing even in a person without disabilities.
Kim Peek has an extraordinary ability to memorize everything he comes across. He has read thousands of books, and has memorized every single word of them, along with huge amounts of sports trivia, directions, and much more. But he's not the only spectacular savant around – from music to art to math, here are a few other amazing individuals you may not know about.
The Musical Maestro
When Tony DeBlois plays piano, his fingers fly across the keyboard so fast that you can barely see them. DeBlois isn't just a piano virtuoso, though – he can play 20 musical instruments, everything from English handbells to the ukelele. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston's prestigious music school, the Berklee College of Music.
DeBlois has overcome incredible odds to get where he is today. He was born three months early, weighing only one pound, and blind. He stayed in the hospital for fifteen weeks, hooked up to tubes and monitors, his chances uncertain. Eventually, he was well enough to go home with his family, but it wasn't long before he was diagnosed with autism and mental retardation.
At the age of two, he showed his first flash of brilliance. His mother had bought him a toy piano, and at first, he simply banged on it as most kids would. After a few weeks, though, his mother recognized a familiar song: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Her little boy had taught himself to play. And he hasn't stopped ever since. Check out this video to see DeBlois in action.
An Astonishing Artist
Many autistic savants also excel in the world of drawing, using their photographic memory to recreate the scenes before them in amazingly accurate detail, down to the position of the hands on a clock. One of the most famous artistic savants is Stephen Wiltshire, a mute and autistic 22-year-old man from London. Ten years ago, Wiltshire was taken on a helicopter ride over the entire city of London. When he returned home, he pulled out a pen and paper. Within three hours, he had drawn an intricate landscape of the entire city, showing every single building, street, and car that he had spotted from the air. Watch an amazing demonstration of his talents here.
The Brain Man
Finally, allow us to introduce you to Daniel Tammett, otherwise known as the "Brain Man." Tammett, who has a mild form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome, first came to worldwide prominence on March 14th, 2004 – otherwise known as Pi Day (3/14). To raise money for an epilepsy foundation, Tammett spent five straight hours reciting the numeric value of pi to the 22,514th decimal place, all from memory. Tammett, an epileptic, had picked up his remarkable memorization skills after a series of seizures as a child; he is one of the world's few "acquired savants," whose skills were sparked by some sort of brain injury or damage.
Ever since his childhood seizures, Tammett has been obsessed with numbers – his mathematics skills are prodigious. When asked to calculate 37 raised to the fourth power, he gave the correct answer within less than a minute. Tammett also has remarkable language skills, and learned the entire Icelandic language within a mere week.
These days, Tammett is sharing his skills with others, offering online tutoring courses in languages, math, and English at his website. To learn more about this ultra-intelligent young man, check out the amazing documentary about him, The Boy with the Incredible Brain, or read his memoir, Born on a Blue Day.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
the 9-year old grief counsellor
Nine-Year-Old Writes Book to Help Grieving Children
11/15/2007
In a perfect world, kids wouldn't have to worry about anything beyond that night's homework or the weekend soccer game. Unfortunately, that's not the case for the millions of children out there who've lost a parent – but nine-year-old Milly Bell from Exeter, England is doing something to make life a little better for grieving children like herself.
Last year, Milly's father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. For the four months he was ill, Milly helped out however she could: Reading stories to him, helping him eat his dinner, giving him his medication. But she was aware that her father would never recover, and that she would soon have to say her last goodbyes.
On her website, Milly says, "While my Dad was dying, I was very upset and I felt like I was the only child it had happened to." But when her mother told her she wasn't alone, Milly began to wonder, "how can I help other children if they are losing someone they love very much and they can't meet other children like me?"
Sadly, Milly's father passed away in May 2006. But through her loss, Milly has found the strength to bring hope to other children in need: She has created a book called My Daddy is Dying, filled with pictures and games that will help other children to cope with the loss of a parent.
On one page, she asks children to create a recipe for a "Happy Feelings cake" and draw a picture of it. On another, she created a diagram "to help me understand about the cycle of life and how like trees and plants, we all live and die." Her book has been published by her father's former employer, Western Power Distribution, and a UK cancer charity, Force. It can also be downloaded from Milly's website.
"Although I still get sad and often think of daddy in heaven having a lovely time, it has got easier as time has gone by, and whenever I feel sad I know it is important to speak and cry about my feelings," Milly says on her site. "I hope this helps other children get through the same thing and let them know they are not the only one."
11/15/2007
In a perfect world, kids wouldn't have to worry about anything beyond that night's homework or the weekend soccer game. Unfortunately, that's not the case for the millions of children out there who've lost a parent – but nine-year-old Milly Bell from Exeter, England is doing something to make life a little better for grieving children like herself.
Last year, Milly's father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. For the four months he was ill, Milly helped out however she could: Reading stories to him, helping him eat his dinner, giving him his medication. But she was aware that her father would never recover, and that she would soon have to say her last goodbyes.
On her website, Milly says, "While my Dad was dying, I was very upset and I felt like I was the only child it had happened to." But when her mother told her she wasn't alone, Milly began to wonder, "how can I help other children if they are losing someone they love very much and they can't meet other children like me?"
Sadly, Milly's father passed away in May 2006. But through her loss, Milly has found the strength to bring hope to other children in need: She has created a book called My Daddy is Dying, filled with pictures and games that will help other children to cope with the loss of a parent.
On one page, she asks children to create a recipe for a "Happy Feelings cake" and draw a picture of it. On another, she created a diagram "to help me understand about the cycle of life and how like trees and plants, we all live and die." Her book has been published by her father's former employer, Western Power Distribution, and a UK cancer charity, Force. It can also be downloaded from Milly's website.
"Although I still get sad and often think of daddy in heaven having a lovely time, it has got easier as time has gone by, and whenever I feel sad I know it is important to speak and cry about my feelings," Milly says on her site. "I hope this helps other children get through the same thing and let them know they are not the only one."
Friday, November 02, 2007
Child Soldier Turned Rap Star: Emmanuel Jal
11/1/2007
In the desert of Sudan, Emmanuel Jal hides in shadows, an AK-47 held steady in his arms. With his finger clenched to the trigger, he is aimed to shoot, ready to kill anyone who crosses his path. He is nine years old.
Eighteen years later, Jal wields his power with a microphone instead of a gun. He stands on the stage in front of thousands, rapping lyrics that ring with truth about his experiences in wartime:
"The music I used to hear was bombs and guns,
So many people die that I don't even cry no more.
I ask God the question: What am I here for?
Why are my people poor?
I ate snails, roaches rats, frogs -- anything that had life.
I know it's a shame,
But who's to blame?"
Today, Jal is well known as one of Africa's greatest rap stars – an unlikely prospect for anyone, let alone a former child soldier and one of the famous Sudanese "lost boys." But the metamorphosis from child soldier to rap star wasn't simple by any stretch of the imagination – in fact, it's a small miracle that Jal is even alive today.
When Jal was a young boy in Sudan, his mother was murdered by rebel soldiers. His sister was raped. At the age of nine, he was recruited to fight in the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Filled with rage at what had been done to his family, he was ready to lash back at the world. After several years, though, Jal couldn't take the fighting any longer. He left Sudan in search of shelter and safety with a group of 400 other boys. During the three-month journey, Jal went days without food or water, and faced dangerous waters and animals. Many of the boys died of starvation, drowned, or were eaten by crocodiles. Of the original group of 400 boys, only 12 survived.
When a British aid worker named Emma McCune encountered Jal at the end of his long trek, he was weak, emaciated, and desperately in need of help. She decided to take him under her wing, smuggling him into Kenya inside of her suitcase. "She was like a mum," Jal told USA Today. "She would take me everywhere with her and got me into school." Tragically, McClune was killed in a car accident not long after Jal moved in with her and her husband. But despite all that he had been through, and the darkness that surrounded him, Jal managed to find one thing worth living for: Music.
He first began making music in church, "because that's where there was hope," he told Time Magazine. "I looked at my life and I said, ‘I've been in hell and I'm told there's another. Why choose that when I have another option?'" He began attending church services regularly, and joined the congregation's gospel choir. Music gave Jal a sense of peace and calmness that the troubled teen had never felt before: "Music is powerful. Music is like love: it's the only thing that can enter your mind without your permission," he told the World Food Programme.
After falling in love with gospel music, Jal soon became interested in rap. The chance to write rap lyrics that engaged with his own painful past was a form of salvation for Jal. "I allowed myself, opened my heart to learn many things, then it helped me to overcome the bitterness, so I managed to forgive," he told CNN. It wasn't long before all of Kenya, and soon, the world, had caught on to Jal's talent: His singles were chart-toppers in Kenya, and he's quickly gaining a reputation in Europe as a talented artist to watch.
Just recently, Jal released his debut album for Western audiences. Called Ceasefire, it features duets with a Muslim Sudanese artist, Abdel Gadir Salim. In Sudan, the two singers would have been sworn enemies because of their religious differences. The collaboration, Jal told Church Times, relays the important message that, "it's important to restore relationships with people, rather than saying ‘Kill them'. It will make a difference. It will take a while for people to follow. But if you practice what you preach, people will follow."
Jal is trying to make a difference in other ways, too – namely, through his non-profit organization, Gua Africa, which works to build schools in Africa, ensuring that the children will be given books instead of guns, and will not have to face the world of horrors that Jal himself encountered as a youth.
No matter where he goes, the children of Africa are never far from his thoughts. As Jal told the World Food Programme, "Now, when I make music, I keep in mind some hungry tots … that's what makes my music, my music. I put my hunger into my music."
Original story by Kathryn Hawkins
In the desert of Sudan, Emmanuel Jal hides in shadows, an AK-47 held steady in his arms. With his finger clenched to the trigger, he is aimed to shoot, ready to kill anyone who crosses his path. He is nine years old.
Eighteen years later, Jal wields his power with a microphone instead of a gun. He stands on the stage in front of thousands, rapping lyrics that ring with truth about his experiences in wartime:
"The music I used to hear was bombs and guns,
So many people die that I don't even cry no more.
I ask God the question: What am I here for?
Why are my people poor?
I ate snails, roaches rats, frogs -- anything that had life.
I know it's a shame,
But who's to blame?"
Today, Jal is well known as one of Africa's greatest rap stars – an unlikely prospect for anyone, let alone a former child soldier and one of the famous Sudanese "lost boys." But the metamorphosis from child soldier to rap star wasn't simple by any stretch of the imagination – in fact, it's a small miracle that Jal is even alive today.
When Jal was a young boy in Sudan, his mother was murdered by rebel soldiers. His sister was raped. At the age of nine, he was recruited to fight in the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Filled with rage at what had been done to his family, he was ready to lash back at the world. After several years, though, Jal couldn't take the fighting any longer. He left Sudan in search of shelter and safety with a group of 400 other boys. During the three-month journey, Jal went days without food or water, and faced dangerous waters and animals. Many of the boys died of starvation, drowned, or were eaten by crocodiles. Of the original group of 400 boys, only 12 survived.
When a British aid worker named Emma McCune encountered Jal at the end of his long trek, he was weak, emaciated, and desperately in need of help. She decided to take him under her wing, smuggling him into Kenya inside of her suitcase. "She was like a mum," Jal told USA Today. "She would take me everywhere with her and got me into school." Tragically, McClune was killed in a car accident not long after Jal moved in with her and her husband. But despite all that he had been through, and the darkness that surrounded him, Jal managed to find one thing worth living for: Music.
He first began making music in church, "because that's where there was hope," he told Time Magazine. "I looked at my life and I said, ‘I've been in hell and I'm told there's another. Why choose that when I have another option?'" He began attending church services regularly, and joined the congregation's gospel choir. Music gave Jal a sense of peace and calmness that the troubled teen had never felt before: "Music is powerful. Music is like love: it's the only thing that can enter your mind without your permission," he told the World Food Programme.
After falling in love with gospel music, Jal soon became interested in rap. The chance to write rap lyrics that engaged with his own painful past was a form of salvation for Jal. "I allowed myself, opened my heart to learn many things, then it helped me to overcome the bitterness, so I managed to forgive," he told CNN. It wasn't long before all of Kenya, and soon, the world, had caught on to Jal's talent: His singles were chart-toppers in Kenya, and he's quickly gaining a reputation in Europe as a talented artist to watch.
Just recently, Jal released his debut album for Western audiences. Called Ceasefire, it features duets with a Muslim Sudanese artist, Abdel Gadir Salim. In Sudan, the two singers would have been sworn enemies because of their religious differences. The collaboration, Jal told Church Times, relays the important message that, "it's important to restore relationships with people, rather than saying ‘Kill them'. It will make a difference. It will take a while for people to follow. But if you practice what you preach, people will follow."
Jal is trying to make a difference in other ways, too – namely, through his non-profit organization, Gua Africa, which works to build schools in Africa, ensuring that the children will be given books instead of guns, and will not have to face the world of horrors that Jal himself encountered as a youth.
No matter where he goes, the children of Africa are never far from his thoughts. As Jal told the World Food Programme, "Now, when I make music, I keep in mind some hungry tots … that's what makes my music, my music. I put my hunger into my music."
Original story by Kathryn Hawkins
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