Hawking had noticed that he was becoming rather clumsy during his last year at Oxford and, when he returned home for Christmas 1962 at the end of his first term at Cambridge, his mother persuaded him to see a doctor.
Hawking had napansin na siya ay magiging sa halip asiwa sa panahon ng kanyang huling taon sa Oxford at, kapag siya bumalik sa bahay para sa Pasko 1962 sa dulo ng kanyang unang term sa Cambridge, ang kanyang ina-akit sa kanya upang makita ang isang doktor.