Stephen William Hawking's Diagnosis

Person of Interest: Stephen Hawking
Bowen Fu
SLHS1150
Institutional Affiliation
Person of Interest: Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking (1942 - 2018) was a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and an accomplished author who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He started to experience challenges with his health while in Oxford. Some of the early signs of sickness included stumbling, falling, and straining while speaking. However, Hawking ignored these signs and failed to disclose the symptoms. Even though the full extent of the condition manifested itself later, Hawking’s story is one of the greatest success stories in the world. He is a man who persevered and never let his condition define him. He fit right into his ensuing state, developed different ways to communicate, and went on to become one of the greatest physicists to ever lived. His story, albeit marred with challenges that could render many people hopeless, is one of triumph and success.
Hawking’s diagnosis was difficult for him and his entire family, but through it all, he found strength in two things. His diagnosis came while he was 21 and with ALS, the nerves controlling the muscles begin to fail and doctors gave him only three years to live (Zarei, 2015). However, Hawking found strength in the fact that he was in the same room with a person who had leukemia as well as the chance to earn his Ph.D. (Biography, 2019). His approach to life was different from this point and he resolved to keep fighting. This was one way in which he communicated his desires and replenished drive in life. He started seeing opportunities in difficult moments. He pictured the positive in the midst of the negative, and this renewed approach to life gave him the strength to keep fighting.
Hawking’s condition deteriorated fast and his speech was greatly impaired to a point where people could not understand what he was saying. This happened in the mid-1970s and only those who were close to him could understand him. It was difficult for him because he was forced to find a way to talk to people because of his drive in life and as a physicist did not waver. ALS interfered with Hawking’s speech and eventually, he lost it. He could not make up words or be able to voice his ideas and opinions. For a person trying to have his name inducted into the greatest of all time physicists list, this was a major setback. He could not defend his papers or be among his peers and have them see him as an equal.
ALS is known to lead to speech problems. Roman (2014) writes that ALS attacks the bulbar neurons which are “responsible for bringing messages from the lower parts of the brain (bulbar region) to the muscles that move the lips, tongue, soft palate (back of roof of mouth), jaw, and vocal folds (voice box).” When the attacks start to happen, the muscles become weak and this then slowly leads to slurred speech as it happened to Hawking. The symptoms of Hawking’s condition had shown signs of rapid progress. However, and fortunately for him, the symptoms slowed down and it was not until 1985 when he completely lost his ability to speak.
Losing his ability to speak meant that Hawking had to find an alternative to verbal speech. Often, people resor...