how did stephen hawking become disabled

Stephen Hawking became disabled because of a rare form of motor neurone disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which he developed in his early 20s and which gradually paralysed him over many years.

Quick Scoop: What Happened

• In 1963, when he was about 21 and studying at university, Hawking was diagnosed with an early‑onset, slow‑progressing type of motor neurone disease (ALS).

• Before his diagnosis, he began noticing increasing clumsiness , falls, and slurred speech, which led doctors to run neurological tests.

• Doctors initially gave him only a few years to live, but his particular form of ALS progressed unusually slowly, allowing him to live into his 70s.

Over time, the disease:

• Weakened his muscles so much that he eventually used a wheelchair full‑time.

• Took away his ability to write and then to speak; after a tracheotomy in 1985, he relied on a computer‑based speech device he controlled with tiny movements, eventually just a cheek muscle.

Was it an accident or injury?

• His disability did not come from an accident, trauma, or a single event.
• It was caused by a progressive neurological disease that damaged the nerve cells controlling his muscles.

Cause of the disease itself

• ALS is usually considered a complex condition with multiple possible contributing factors; in Hawking’s case, doctors described it as an “atypical” form, and no single clear cause was identified.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.