Leslie Lempke\'s Miracle
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“Leslie Lempke’s Miracle”
Idiot savant is a condition in which people with major mental illnesses or major mental handicaps have a spectacular ability to excel in one or more specific areas. There are two types of these miraculous savants. A talented savant is defined as a person who demonstrates talents that would be considered remarkable in contrast to their handicap. A prodigious savant is defined as a person who demonstrates remarkable talents even for regular, non-handicapped people. There is no known reason in why people are born with these extraordinary conditions, but some theories are accepted more then others. One theory is the aged left brain theory which was originated by a team of Harvard neurologists in 1987. Another theory in which savants arise is heredity. Savants could be a product of two coincidentally inherited genes.
One of the most famous savants is a man named Leslie Lempke. Leslie was born with Cerebral Palsy and was abandoned by his parents at birth. Besides being mentally handicapped, leslie was born without eyes. He lay alone for 6 months in the Milwaukee County General Hospital. Leslie was in some real trouble until a 52 year old retired nurse named May Lempke took him in. She raised him as one of her own and taught him as much as she could. It wasn’t till years later that May discovered one of Leslie’s amazing savant abilities. The first time looking at a piece of music, Leslie played Tchiakovsky’s Concerto #1 flawlessly from start to finish. After all May’s hard work Leslie started to talk and sing, began to cry and feel emothion, all things he was never expected to do.
I think that May’s unconditional love and treating Leslie like one of her own children helped Leslie develop his skills. Also her encouraging Leslie to sing and play the piano helped him develop his talents. May Lempke is an wonderful woman and Leslie would have never developed his talents if it weren’t...