That was a riveting recap of your close encounter of the memorable kind with Dr. Stephen Hawking, 82_28. I felt a kinship with your honest reactions as I read it.
I helped raise one of my in-laws who was born crippled and later became wheelchair bound, so I was able to witness people’s reactions as I wheeled the handicapped, apparently helpless hostage, through many crowded, public venues.
What onlookers didn’t know - and often failed to find out - was what a wonderful personality and mind that lurked behind the outward appearance of confined pathos. Once engaged, the charisma of this character overwhelmed audiences.
Similarly, two other close relatives are children, and both of them are autistic savants on the “endowed functioning” or high end of the spectrum. Otherwise they are everyday kids, still under twelve and wondering why “normal” people often behave so strangely around them. They can already psychoanalyze a response.
It’s compelling to see their innocence learning to cope with their uniqueness as humans. The wheelchair-bound also have to learn to steer through labels and leering ignorance. It takes an effort on both sides to see past the assumptions.
Thankfully, afflicted people can develop their personal self-esteem independent of what onlookers reflect as typical reactions to them. They soon learn that they are so much more than their bodies, their condition and their appearance. They already understand that, initially, ignorant people make all the wrong assumptions about them. They no longer depend on the reflections back from their audience for approval and self worth. They know their unique value has awesome potential.
Dr. Stephen Hawking not only opened a new understanding of our vast universe, he exemplified a similarly genius personal insight into human nature around him and reacting to his condition. His life remains an inspiration to everyone, especially the handicapped and so-called abnormal, for whom he remains a bright beacon of hope.
