I guess you've hidden a camera in our house. To all involved, thank you for this brutally honest, hilariously funny, unsentimental series. Speechless taps into deep truths. It's focused on families of those with disabilities, but anyone who has ever had to struggle with anything should be able to relate. A fine cast under fine direction brings carefully drawn characters to life each week. Each episode leaves me speechless.

This episode is about a family who struggles to find their son J.J, who has cerebral palsy the accommodations he needs. This episode was funny, Witty and expressed how ignorant people can be towards disability etiquette. J.J is not the only character who struggles with adversity his family does as well. Their family has been constantly moving around to try and accommodate J.J but his brother struggles with constantly moving around and feels neglected. J. J's mother comes off very strong and dedicated to her son. The principle is taken back from the mom's aggressiveness but she has to be like that in order for J.J to get what he needs. This episode sent a powerful message to its viewers that everyone should be treated as a human and not "trash". When other characters first met J.J they made him feel so different than everyone else and treated him differently. I would defiantly recommend others to watch this episode to get an inside on how some people with disabilities are treated and the adversities they have to overcome. This episode conveyed the message that no matter who you are, or what kind of disability you have you should be treated like a human and given respect. In the beginning of the episode, the mom parked in a handicap spot and as soon as she did another lady with a pass immediately said something to her. All Maya had to do was simply open up her van for her son to be visible and that immediately made the other woman quite. J. J's mother had high hopes for this school and was immediately turned off when she saw the ramp the school provided for her son, when in fact it was really a garbage ramp and not for children with disabilities (e.g. 07:50-8:40). This just showed how ignorant the principle was to believe that a parent would be okay with this kind of "accommodation". To prove how disrespectful this ramp was, Maya played a game called "human or trash" to prove her point. This episode demonstrated how the school failed to meet J. J's needs. However, the school did provide J.J with an aid to help him around school so he would not have to be in a special Ed class anymore. This aid allowed J.J to have a voice and to not rely on his mother's voice. When J.J entered his classroom, this scene immediately demonstrated inspirational porn (e.g. 09:38-10:37). His teacher kept repeating "he's here, he's here" as if J.J was a celebrity and had the rest of the students clapping for J.J. Then the teacher had the students stand up and clap and as soon as they did that he immediately said "oh god, he can't stand how insensitive" and had everyone sit back down. This teacher was extremely ignorant to disability etiquette and how you are supposed to treat someone. He did not think before he spoke. One of the students came up to J.J and held up a poster it said "J.J for president". J.J did not understand why he should be president because no one even knew him yet, and the teacher response "because you are an inspiration". According to (Young, 2014) people think that if you are disabled you are exceptional. Inspirational porn makes people think that no matter how bad my life is I could be that person. It is supposed to make you feel better about your life. What people don't understand is that these people are just doing ordinary activities using their bodies to the best of their ability. It is okay to want to exercise more so you, yourself become healthier but it is not okay to use people with disabilities as your own motivation (Young, 2024). This episode effectively showed how some people do not have any disability etiquette. Hopefully after viewers watch this episode they will be more aware on how to treat others with respect.

When first hearing that the show was about the family of a boy with cerebral palsy, the automatic response is to expect the mood of the show to be sad and/or heartbreaking. However, I found the upbeat and partly comical mood of the show to be a refreshing outlook on disability. It starts out with a seemingly "normal" family driving to get half priced breakfast before their coupon expires. When they arrive at their destination, they park in a handicapped spot without any indication on their vehicle of the necessity for use of the spot. Immediately, an older woman makes a comment about how it is unfair they use the spot, and complains about the problems she has with walking. Rather than speaking a response, the family instead opens the back door of the car, lowers the ramp, and lowers down the wheelchair of their son JJ who has cerebral palsy (immediately shutting up the older woman). This beginning scene then sets the context in which disability will be portrayed throughout the remainder of the show- light heatedly with a twinge of comic relief on a topic that makes so many people uncomfortable. Throughout the rest of the episode, the characters in the show portray the actual normalcy of disability, and how, even though it makes so many people uncomfortable (i.e. when JJ goes into his classroom for the first time and gets a standing ovation from peers he has never met before), we all need to remember that just because someone has a disability that it does not make them abnormal. The show does a great job portraying this message to its viewers. One of the most comical aspects of the show is the reactions JJ's family (as well as JJ himself) has to people' extreme kindness in reaction to his disability. The entire family find people's reactions to be absurd, and goes as far at times to mock those who treat JJ any differently. I recommend this show not only to those who know someone with disability (or has a disability themselves) but also anyone in need of some comic relief surrounding a topic that makes so many uncomfortable.

Witty script clever acting brilliant story line with real people who have faults and wonderfully different ideas. I love it.He has used some amazing plays on being British, being disabled, feeling guilty about all sorts of things along with what life is like for families and children in a family with a differently abled child.A fabulous breath of fresh air. Well done for staying away from the ppr me routine (except when it is useful as a way of getting something).It is fantastic to have a person with cerebral palsy playing a person with cerebral palsy. We kiwis are used to it we have a stand up comic Thane Pullan so it is fantastic to see more people doing this.Minnie Driver is amazing, Micah is inspiring, the rest of the family are wonderfully dysfunctional. Please give us more like this.My favourite line is the Dad "I am the slowest person to guess what you are saying aren't I?" - it comes in a father-son chat. It is such an amazing self aware moment it is great.