Stephen Hawking - an inspiration

      One of the most famous scientists in the world, Stephen Hawking, is a significant inspiration for people with disabilities who have the dreams in creating a successful life. I’ve been interested in learning all about him and comparing his life to my journey with a degenerative disease. The information below describes some of what I learned about him, as well as examples of the important things that happened in my life and what I want to accomplish in the coming years.

      Stephen was born on January 8, 1942, and he grew up in the United Kingdom during the time when the Soviet Union invaded Poland in the wake of World War II. His family lived in a safe environment on the north side of England, which protected them from an aggressive military held in other parts of the continent. He had three siblings named Edward, Phillippa, and Mary. He then moved to St. Albans at the age of eight, where he attended school while his father worked as the director of the National Institute for Medical Research. In comparison, my parents bought a nice house in a rural town located farther away from the city before I was born which I have lived for a long time and became part of the mainstream society. In comparison to Hawking, I have a younger brother and a sister, Allison and Ryan, who remain closely related and we all enjoy spending a lot of leisure time together. I learned from the book explaining how important it was for Stephen to be with his family members who supported him and it made him feel grateful for them. He and I both received public education with similar opportunities to participate in student activities and programs that encouraged them to develop social skills and career interests. When I was in high school, I joined the Allied Soccer League, the Forever Friends Club, and the drama program for students with and without special needs, which helped me to connect with my peers and work closely with them. I also became a member of the Camp Inclusion Board and it got me interested in a career position in working with children and adults with disabilities to improve their lives. According to Stephen Hawking, he enjoyed spending time with friends and playing games just for fun. As a teenager he became interested in the field of physics and mathematics so he decides to begin conducting scientific experiments as a strategy to form his own theories. Because of his higher IQ, he studied hard at St. Albans High School which impressed his teachers. After graduating from high school, he attended Oxford University to earn a bachelor’s degree with honors in physics; however he still didn’t know what he wanted to do. He then went on to Cambridge University to pursue a doctoral degree in physics and became professor of mathematics. My dream would be to transfer from community college to the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) to complete a degree in social work while preparing for the workforce through internships and professional training. In comparison to Oxford and Cambridge, UMBC is and honors college, and one of the most rigorous and challenging schools to get into, requiring good grades and higher academic achievement.

     Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS when he turned 21, which stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It is a progressive form of motor neuron disease that causes permanent damage to nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. He was told by doctors that he only had two years to live, however he survived much longer and lived until the age of 76.  Shortly after the diagnosis he ended up in a wheelchair for mobility that allowed him to move freely without risk walking. He also lost his ability to speak during his trip to Geneva due to his illness, and they put on a ventilator to help him breathe. The condition he had made life challenging. One time he met an engineer, Dennis Klatt, who designed and built a computerized system to translate text to speech, with a sensor attached to his cheek so he was able to communicate by typing on the computer without using his hands. The invention gave him the freedom and joy to communicate again with his family members and colleagues. As for me, I was diagnosed with RTD in 2014 and riboflavin treatment was prescribed to stop my conditions from getting worse. I am very lucky that my life expectancy remains normal as long as I keep taking riboflavin and other mitochondrial support medications. My disease generally affects cranial nerves resulting in related symptoms such as sensory hearing loss, visual neuropathy, and physical limitations. These symptoms have some similarities and differences to ALS, but they are much less severe than Hawking’s. I feel so grateful that I can breathe normally without needing a ventilator, which many people with RTD must live with. I was only a child when I lost my balance and my muscles got weaker over the years. I used assistive technology in school to make reading and communication easier. As I got older, I decided to create a new way of communicating with others directly in order to avoid being frustrated when things cannot be heard over long distances like lip reading and. Now I am currently using an app on my iPad called Live Caption and it works pretty well by recording the conversation from speech to text. It was one of the positive solutions I’ve found available to me, otherwise there may be other technologies that will one day be available to make life better for me. 

     Hawking was a social guy, and people knew he had a wonderful personality with a great sense of humor. He made many friends who took the time to understand his disability and learn about his scientific ideas.  In relation to my own life, I have gotten to know a lot of people at school and in the community. I always feel a little shy at first until I get used to talking to them and making sure they understand me clearly. While Hawking played games with his friends, I participated in sports and theatre and hung out with peers. During his freshmen year at college, Hawking found himself isolated so he struggled to seek ways to be social, thinking he would enjoy rowing and parties. Now that I’m currently a college student and I haven’t yet had a chance to get involved, my goal is to start a club and join a dance program that will enhance my social life.

     Stephen Hawking met his wife Jane at a party.  As Hawking's condition worsened, she became both his wife and caretaker.  He never discussed his disability much in his relationship, although he relied on her to help him with things when his aides weren’t with him, including pushing his wheelchair, typing papers for his work, and taking him places.  Doing so was her main challenge in their marriage, but she promised to do whatever he asked her to accommodate with stuff that was important to him.  They had three children; Robert, Lucy, and Tim. Because of his health issues, Jane Hawking was able to obtain government funding for support staff at home so she was happy to have him stay with her instead of sending him to a nursing home.

    After his 30-year marriage to Jane, the couple divorced and he took Elaine Mason as his second wife.  Elaine was one of his registered nurses who took care of the ventilator and other health-related needs. Like Hawking, Marriage and family are my greatest dreams besides having my own wheelchair-accessible place to live with assistance from neighbors and staff so I can be just like everyone else.

   Stephen Hawking was best known for his work on black holes and contributions to cosmology and gravity. He wrote several books based on his knowledge of these disciplines. The Brief History of Time and The Theory of Everything became popular to readers who wanted to better understand the interconnection between physics and mathematics in theoretical ways. Hawking was also an advocate for the equal rights of the disabled, by ensuring that public buildings and college campuses are made accessible for those in wheelchairs and other handicaps. As a graduate student and professor at Cambridge, the administrators and architects followed Hawking’s instructions and they all agreed to provide campus accessibility with ramps and elevators to make it easier for him to get around. He traveled around the world to meet with other scientists and share his theories of the universe. After he lost his speech, he was able to communicate through a computer for teaching so it didn’t interrupt him from doing the job.  The operating system worked really well which showed signs of further progress in his work on the sensor that acts as a voice. Creativity and self-advocacy were his two strategies that gave him the power to succeed in his career and personal life along with reasonable accommodations. To be honest, I try to always stand up for what I need to overcome and be more adaptive like he did.  I am always making sure that my college is offering proper equipment for the blind or visually impaired students planning to take classes there.  I’ve been interested in becoming an advocate too and working for agencies and self-directed services to support the poor, elderly, mentally ill, and people with disabilities. I also hope to travel all over the country to attend conferences and meetings for work. Following Stephen Hawking’s communication barriers, the best way I can handle the situation would be to record formal conversations using modern technology that I bring everywhere. Technology plays a huge role in my life, which has increased my ability to access materials other than communication especially for reading and writing.  I want to consider writing tons of blogs and magazine articles on specific topics related to the fields of social work and disability studies. For example, I’m hoping to write something about the role of self-advocacy and why it is important to us.

     These are the key points from the story of Stephen Hawking’s life. In conclusion, the purpose of the discussion is to help you understand how inspiration influences individuals with disabilities who wish to create their own success by comparing themselves to each other with similar challenges and experiences. The truth is that people can do whatever they want to accomplish as long as they work hard and have the same legal rights. Most importantly, anyone who faced various physical challenges but with normal intelligence (like me and Hawking) must learn to adapt to their environment and declare their rights, by figuring out what works best for them. Being a good self-advocate generally means taking responsibility for what you need or want! That’s what I’m trying to explain about helping disabled individuals prepare for their future once they graduate high school and college. Keep in mind that Stephen Hawking worked hard to achieve the goals that led to a successful life. Now it’s time to start thinking this way, and his story involves a powerful influence on society. I hope this discussion will raise awareness of what disabled people like about themselves and what they want to accomplish over the course of their lives.

     If you are interested in learning more about this man, visit https://www.biography.com/scientist/stephen-hawking