This year, ABC started airing a new show called Speechless, which is quietly filling a much-needed spot in American broadcasting that has long been vacant. The show tells the story of a teenager and his family: his overprotective mother, his lazy yet supportive father and his younger brother and sister. This sounds like an average show so far, right? But there is one detail that makes all the difference — this teenager has special needs.
J.J. is wheelchair bound and is quite literally speechless, using a keyboard and laser to point to words and letters in order to communicate. Although the show focuses quite a bit on both J.J.’s parents and his siblings, J.J. is the main character. The majority of the show deals with the challenges that he and his family face on a daily basis, J.J.’s relationship with his caretaker and his ability to be a normal teenager in a lot of ways.
Showing the everyday life of J. J. and his family makes Speechless a very important show. Many Hollywood movies showcase any type of disability as the end. Life as a disabled person, according to Hollywood, isn’t worthwhile. There are almost no shows or movies who star characters with disabilities, and when they do it often turns out like Me Before You, which spreads the general message that suicide is a better option than being disabled.
Speechless, however, shows viewers that disabled people — no matter how severe their disability is — can live fulfilling, happy lives. The show is realistic, refusing to ignore details like J.J.’s need for help with even basic tasks, from getting dressed to going to the bathroom, but it also refuses to paint his life as purposeless or depressing. J.J. is popular at school, goes to parties and has his fair share of jokes.
J.J. definitely has his challenges, but in many ways, he is a normal teenager who wants the chance to make his own decisions and to experience what everyone else his age experiences. His mother, who is understandingly overprotective, has to learn to let go a little bit throughout the show and let him experience things.
Additionally, Speechless focuses on J.J.’s friendship with his caretaker, Kenneth. As a former caretaker myself, I really appreciate this part of the show; it’s a unique yet complicated level of friendship that you can’t really have with anyone else. The show does a great job of balancing J.J and Kenneth’s friendship; it points out that there are many experiences that Kenneth wants to let J.J. have, but some of them (like drinking at a high school party) are experiences that his job requires him to keep J.J. from having.
Despite this, Kenneth doesn’t fulfill a stiff, authoritative role; he and J.J. become friends, and he helps J.J. experience everything that he can help him experience. Kenneth also royally messes up sometimes, but that is part of what makes their relationship so realistic.
Speechless brings real issues to light with a perfect mixture of humor, realism, and a dash of seriousness. It also provides representation for disabled people in a way that is realistic yet isn’t derogatory or depressing. But the best part of this entire show is that the actor who plays J.J., Micah Fowler, has cerebral palsy in real life — he’s not an abled actor who has no idea what it is like to be in his character’s shoes. He’s experienced it for himself.
Disabled actors are few and far between, so Micah Folwer is breaking into the industry in a very inspiring way. He’s showing other disabled people that it’s possible to make it as an actor or an actress. Just as J.J. works to overcome challenges and to experience being a teenager, Micah Fowler is showing his viewers through his example that a disabled life is not a useless or depressing life; being disabled doesn’t change your value, nor does it bar you from a full life brimming over with joy.