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.