Well, it's the price of fame. I've worked with several
physically disabled kids who have to talk via straws and stuff -
I was the guy that set up their computers and interfaces. [I
volunteered for a cerebral palsy center in 1993/1994 in New
Jersey, USA] I set them up, taught the kids and taught the
teachers. It was a blast. And they're perfectly capable of
thinking any thought we think. They just have mechanical
troubles getting it *out* so that we can understand them. Straw
interfaces, finger boards and other alt.input devices all help.
== But what's criminal to me is the "assisted" talk where the
mother's are moving their kids hands. That pisses me off. It
takes away from the VERY difficult effort required for them to
communicate. They CAN communicate fine - just not at the speeds
we like. I have no doubt that these are Hawking's thoughts. I
*do* think he was influenced by some recent "ways of thinking"
but I believe he assents to them as they're rather in line with
earlier things he's done.
