How I saw Stephen Hawking's death as a disabled person
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Stephen Hawking was a renowned scientist famed for his work on black holes and relativity.
He published several popular science books such as A Brief History of Time.
Prof Hawking was also a wheelchair user who lived with motor neurone disease from the age of 21.
Yes, he was an award-winning scientist, but a lot of the coverage after Prof Hawking's death has created a narrative of an "inspirational" figure who was "crippled" by his condition and "confined to a wheelchair".
As a disabled person, I've found this discourse troubling and somewhat regressive.
I'm tired of being labelled an 'inspiration'
Stephen Hawking's death has reminded me why I'm tired, as a disabled person and a wheelchair user, of being labelled an inspiration just for living my everyday life.
Prof Hawking was an extraordinary scientist and an incredibly intelligent human being.
However, many disabled people, myself included, would take issue with calling him an "inspiration" as this term is often used in popular society to belittle disabled people's experiences.
I am fine with my friends and family members calling me "inspirational". However, I get labelled it by random strangers, who hardly know me and just see the wheelchair and my condition (cerebral palsy, which means I use a wheelchair), not the person.
People with disabilities are often framed as either inspirational (say, a Paralympic athlete) or scroungers (people to be cared for or, worse, demonised) by the media and on television screens.
Our everyday experiences are neither heroic nor those of scroungers: it's just life as we know it.
Visionary physicist Stephen Hawking dies
Obituary: Stephen Hawking
More role models, please
Kids in the playground of my Merseyside primary school would compare me, probably the only young wheelchair user they had encountered, with the "genius" that was Stephen Hawking.
This was not an entirely fair comparison, I must say.
To me what this showed, even from a young age, was that there was a lack of "people like me", disabled people in the public spotlight, people I could aspire to be like.
I can think of four or five disabled people who were in the public spotlight when I was growing up early part of the last decade: David Blunkett, the former home secretary who is blind, Stephen Hawking, and two Paralympic athletes, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Ade Adepitan.
How I saw Stephen Hawking's death as a disabled person
How I saw Stephen Hawking's death as a disabled personHow I saw Stephen Hawking's death as a disabled person![[/p]
Stephen Hawking was a renowned scientist famed for his work on black holes and relativity.
He published several popular science books such as A Brief History of Time.
Prof Hawking was also a wheelchair user who lived with motor neurone disease from the age of 21.
Yes, he was an award-winning scientist, but a lot of the coverage after Prof Hawking's death has created a narrative of an "inspirational" figure who was "crippled" by his condition and "confined to a wheelchair".
As a disabled person, I've found this discourse troubling and somewhat regressive.
I'm tired of being labelled an 'inspiration'
Stephen Hawking's death has reminded me why I'm tired, as a disabled person and a wheelchair user, of being labelled an inspiration just for living my everyday life.
Prof Hawking was an extraordinary scientist and an incredibly intelligent human being.
However, many disabled people, myself included, would take issue with calling him an "inspiration" as this term is often used in popular society to belittle disabled people's experiences.
I am fine with my friends and family members calling me "inspirational". However, I get labelled it by random strangers, who hardly know me and just see the wheelchair and my condition (cerebral palsy, which means I use a wheelchair), not the person.
People with disabilities are often framed as either inspirational (say, a Paralympic athlete) or scroungers (people to be cared for or, worse, demonised) by the media and on television screens.
Our everyday experiences are neither heroic nor those of scroungers: it's just life as we know it.
Visionary physicist Stephen Hawking dies
Obituary: Stephen Hawking
More role models, please
Kids in the playground of my Merseyside primary school would compare me, probably the only young wheelchair user they had encountered, with the "genius" that was Stephen Hawking.
This was not an entirely fair comparison, I must say.
To me what this showed, even from a young age, was that there was a lack of "people like me", disabled people in the public spotlight, people I could aspire to be like.
I can think of four or five disabled people who were in the public spotlight when I was growing up early part of the last decade: David Blunkett, the former home secretary who is blind, Stephen Hawking, and two Paralympic athletes, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Ade Adepitan.
How I saw Stephen Hawking's death as a disabled person]([/p
Stephen Hawking was a renowned scientist famed for his work on black holes and relativity.
He published several popular science books such as A Brief History of Time.
Prof Hawking was also a wheelchair user who lived with motor neurone disease from the age of 21.
Yes, he was an award-winning scientist, but a lot of the coverage after Prof Hawking's death has created a narrative of an "inspirational" figure who was "crippled" by his condition and "confined to a wheelchair".
As a disabled person, I've found this discourse troubling and somewhat regressive.
I'm tired of being labelled an 'inspiration'
Stephen Hawking's death has reminded me why I'm tired, as a disabled person and a wheelchair user, of being labelled an inspiration just for living my everyday life.
Prof Hawking was an extraordinary scientist and an incredibly intelligent human being.
However, many disabled people, myself included, would take issue with calling him an "inspiration" as this term is often used in popular society to belittle disabled people's experiences.
cerebral palsy, which means I use a wheelchair
people to be cared for or, worse, demonised
Our everyday experiences are neither heroic nor those of scroungers: it's just life as we know it.
Visionary physicist Stephen Hawking dies
Obituary: Stephen Hawking
More role models, please
Kids in the playground of my Merseyside primary school would compare me, probably the only young wheelchair user they had encountered, with the "genius" that was Stephen Hawking.
This was not an entirely fair comparison, I must say.
To me what this showed, even from a young age, was that there was a lack of "people like me", disabled people in the public spotlight, people I could aspire to be like.
I can think of four or five disabled people who were in the public spotlight when I was growing up early part of the last decade: David Blunkett, the former home secretary who is blind, Stephen Hawking, and two Paralympic athletes, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Ade Adepitan.
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How I saw Stephen Hawking's death as a disabled person[/p] Stephen Hawking was a renowned scientist famed for his work on black holes and relativity. He published several popular science books such as A Brief History of Time. Prof Hawking was also a wheelchair user who lived with motor neurone disease from the age of 21. Yes, he was an award-winning scientist, but a lot of the coverage after Prof Hawking's death has created a narrative of an "inspirational" figure who was "crippled" by his condition and "confined to a wheelchair". As a disabled person, I've found this discourse troubling and somewhat regressive. I'm tired of being labelled an 'inspiration' Stephen Hawking's death has reminded me why I'm tired, as a disabled person and a wheelchair user, of being labelled an inspiration just for living my everyday life. Prof Hawking was an extraordinary scientist and an incredibly intelligent human being. However, many disabled people, myself included, would take issue with calling him an "inspiration" as this term is often used in popular society to belittle disabled people's experiences. I am fine with my friends and family members calling me "inspirational". However, I get labelled it by random strangers, who hardly know me and just see the wheelchair and my condition (cerebral palsy, which means I use a wheelchair), not the person. People with disabilities are often framed as either inspirational (say, a Paralympic athlete) or scroungers (people to be cared for or, worse, demonised) by the media and on television screens. Our everyday experiences are neither heroic nor those of scroungers: it's just life as we know it. Visionary physicist Stephen Hawking dies Obituary: Stephen Hawking More role models, please Kids in the playground of my Merseyside primary school would compare me, probably the only young wheelchair user they had encountered, with the "genius" that was Stephen Hawking. This was not an entirely fair comparison, I must say. To me what this showed, even from a young age, was that there was a lack of "people like me", disabled people in the public spotlight, people I could aspire to be like. I can think of four or five disabled people who were in the public spotlight when I was growing up early part of the last decade: David Blunkett, the former home secretary who is blind, Stephen Hawking, and two Paralympic athletes, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Ade Adepitan. How I saw Stephen Hawking's death as a disabled person