Standing Ovations, Awards and Disability.

Did you watch the BAFTAs last night? I watched this morning because I was too tired last night. After watching the award show and flicking through the media reports and social media posts, there was one bit of curiosity about one of the presenters that would just not go away. By the theme of my blog you have probably guessed it was Professor Stephen Hawking.

Stephen was there to present the Visual Effects BAFTA alongside Felicity Jones and support the  movie about his marriage, The Theory of Everything. I have nothing against Professor Hawking or his work or his circumstance, but I kept asking myself a question. Why did Stephen get a standing ovation? None of the other presenters got a standing ovation, so why Stephen?

I understand that Professor Hawking is highly regarded as a phenomenal scientist, I will never take that away from him. I was thinking why stand up? I know that it is for two possible reasons it is either because he is a world renowned physicist or because he is disabled. I understand that motor neurone disease is a very tough illness, but you have to understand that is just one small part of Stephen. Stephen rarely refers to his illness or even says that he is disabled. He is a man who believes that his brain is the most  important thing and if it is still functioning, he should not be classed as disabled. I know that if I ever had the opportunity to be on stage I would want to be for my work rather than my impairment, because it is a small part of my world and has made me who I am is not the definitive thing I am defined by.

Now as I am writing this article I am starting to change my mind. Could the standing ovation actually be a good thing because would we have Professor Stephen Hawking, the world renowned scientist if he didn't have Motor Neurone Disease. Did the Motor Neurone Disease help him find his scientific passion and the perfect idea to become the recognised scientist, he is today. I know that as a young woman with a physical impairment. I would not be the same person if I did not have a physical impairment.

So I finish by saying that disability is a complex idea which allows people's ideologies about disability to change like myself halfway this article. So, my advice is do not judge a book by social standards to get know them as people because you never know what treasure you might find.