World renowned disabled scientist invited to visit Thailand

BANGKOK, December 3 (TNA) - The Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), under the Ministry of Education, invites a world renowned disabled scientist, Stephen William Hawking, who has researched on the universe and time, to deliver a speech at an ASEAN special education fair in late July 2015. OBEC Secretary-General Kamol Rodkhlai told journalists on Wednesday that the invitation is underway and he has assigned the OBEC's Bureau of Special Education to organize the fair grandly, as Thailand is recognized as a leader in special education in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where delegations of many countries plan to visit for their study tours on special education. Phayome Chinawong, Director of the Bureau of Special Education, said, meanwhile, if Hawking accepted the invitation, he could change attitudes towards education for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and other underprivileged children, as he can move only his eyes but has become a world-renowned scientist. Phayome conceded, however, he wondered whether the health problem of 73-year-old Hawkin would obstruct his travel to Thailand. Hawking is a theoretical physicist and cosmologist, who suffers from a motor neuron disease, but he communicates with a speech synthesizer. Phayome noted that his bureau also invites Howard Gardner, a psychologist at Harvard University in the United States, to the same fair next year. (TNA)