Sophomore Year for ABC's Speechless

I am very happy to see J.J. and family back for season number 2, something that most shows have not done when a character with a disability is the focus.  This might be a show that you are more drawn to, because one can relate to the different characters.  I relate to J.J. because I have been through that experience, other people can relate to the parents and others might be in the shoes of Kenneth.

I have talk to friends that think the show should be more edgier I know Speechless is rolling a fine line. It is under the eye of many groups, the two big one is those with disabilities and those without.  something that may be gimp humor to us, could turn off a lot of people.

I would like to see this show keep its humor, because if I did not see the humor in life things would get very depressing for sure.  In Sophomore year of high school student start thinking about college and if they want to go out of their home state. I think issues as this should brought into the show. This would be more complex for J..J. due to his disability. A few weeks ago, I had the thought of what if, the Medicaid fight popped up in the show, it could affect the support they got in school and at home?  Although it would strike a chord with the disabled community, others could see it as not the right platform for the issue.

The Key to the show is to keep it topical, but funny in order to keep its appeal to the masses and that is a monumental task in these times.

Potato, Potatoe,No It Is what Works for Me!

Da!, It only took me three to figure out that JJ from Speechless does not uses an AAC Device. Rather it’s an old school communication board with a light pointer, so that is why people repeat what he has to say.  Hey it works for me, would people still get his humor/personality if it were a computer voice?  I wonder how long that debate went, I’m sure it was more interesting then the debates that have been on TV recently.

In contrast is the new Jaguar commercial with Stephen Hawking that ends with an AAC Device laugh.  When you compare the two ways of relating personality, which one is more effective and really it comes down to personal preference.

Once again I state there is no right, or wrong on this. For some people the independence is more important then depending on a middle person. Then there are hippies as me that wants an interpreter to get my thoughts across that has my twists.

I just viewed the trailer ABC's new comedy Speechless

I just viewed the trailer ABC's new comedy Speechless, for me it hit all of the cords that I am looking for. I laugh the whole trailer, but when the brother is speaking up about wanting more mom time, I could relate very much to this. Until now no body really thought about the impact of having a child with a disability on the other children. In fact it made me tear up thinking about my own family since so much of my Mom’s time was focous on me, what did that do to my siblings?

I was laughing and being “entertained”, but at the end of each joke, I had to stop and think what was just presented to me. For example, the accessibled ramp at JJ’s new school. Most people would have a conniption fit if they had to smell trash each time they went in and out of a building, but some how it’s acceptable for the disabled since its accessibled.

I have come to the hypothesis that when disabilities are present in any media. It is not there to represent people with disability as a group, but to challenge the way people think about that situation. When it comes down to it any form of entertainment, it is art and good art is there to evoke one’s emotions and thoughts. My hope is that Speechless can stay on this path and I will be rolling right along with JJ and his family.

Let's Try This One