CPF is addressing a specific and significant issue: People with Cerebral Palsy so often don’t get the interventions and therapies they need at the moments they need them. As such, lives are so often uneccessarily challenged. We are addressing that issue by spearheading research, innovation, and collaborations that are transforming lives.

If you’d like to become part of this life-changing work, please let us know. We’re growing and we’d love to share that with you!

Two critically acclaimed new Wednesday series, “Speechless” and “Designated Survivor,” have been given full‑season pickups, Channing Dungey, president, ABC Entertainment, announced today. Nine additional episodes of both series, from Twentieth Century Fox Television and ABC Studios, and The Mark Gordon Company and ABC Studios respectively, have been ordered.

In making the announcement, Dungey said, “’Designated Survivor’ and ‘Speechless’ are two of the most critically acclaimed new shows of the fall season. We’re very proud of the creative excellence in front of and behind the camera, and are thrilled to be giving our audience more episodes.”

Building on its lead‑in by double digits on average, ABC’s “Designated Survivor” ranks a dominant No. 1 in Wednesday’s 10:00 p.m. hour with Live + Same Day Total Viewers (9.0 million) and Adults 18‑49 (2.0/7). More than doubling the audience in its time period on its series debut (+104%), the new drama delivered ABC’s most watched scripted telecast in the hour in 5 years – since 9/21/11. The season’s biggest gainer in TV playback with viewers, the “Designated Survivor” debut shot up in the Live + 3 Day numbers to 15.3 million viewers (+5.3 million) and a 3.7 rating in Adults 18‑49 (+1.5 rating points). In fact, the show’s 5.3 million viewer spike after 3 days of playback is the largest lift for any TV series debut in 2 years – since ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder” on 9/25/14.

“Designated Survivor” stars Kiefer Sutherland as Tom Kirkman, Natascha McElhone as Alex Kirkman, Adan Canto as Aaron Shore, Italia Ricci as Emily Rhodes, LaMonica Garrett as Mike Ritter, Tanner Buchanan as Leo Kirkman; with Kal Penn as Seth Wright and Maggie Q as Hannah Wells “Designated Survivor” is produced by The Mark Gordon Company and ABC Studios. David Guggenheim is the creator and executive producer. Simon Kinberg, Mark Gordon, Jon Harmon Feldman, Nick Pepper. Suzan Bymel, Aditya Sood and Kiefer Sutherland are executive producers.

ABC’s “Speechless” debuted as the No. 2 new comedy during Premiere Week (w/o 9/19/16) among Adults 18‑49, behind only CBS’ “Big Bang”‑led “Kevin Can Wait.” In fact, “Speechless” ranked among the week’s Top 5 highest-°©‐‑rated comedies on TV with young adults (No.  5‑tie). In Total Viewers, the show’s debut drew ABC’s biggest scripted audience to the time period in 1-year  – since 9/30/15. On average in Live + Same Day, ABC’s “Speechless” (6.9 million and 1.9/7) builds on its “The Goldbergs” lead-in by 3% in Total Viewers and retains a strong 95% among Adults 18‑49.

“Speechless” stars Minnie Driver as Maya DiMeo, John Ross Bowie as Jimmy DiMeo, Mason Cook as Ray DiMeo, Micah Fowler as JJ DiMeo, Kyla Kenedy as Dylan DiMeo and Cedric Yarbrough as Kenneth.

Scott Silveri (“Friends”) writes and is executive producer of the show, along with “Fresh Off the Boat”’s Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar. The series is from Twentieth Century Fox Television and ABC Studios. The Cerebral Palsy Foundation is a Foundation Partner and Technical Consultant on “Speechless.” To learn more about CP, go to CerebralPalsyFoundation.org.

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Click here to watch the pilot! Or join us on the couch on Wed. Sept. 21st at 7:30/8:30c.

The Cerebral Palsy Foundation (CPF) in conjunction with the new ABC series Speechless, is pleased to announce their new partnership. This innovative relationship creates a unique opportunity where a non-profit foundation and network TV show coordinate a parallel release of meaningful and informative content around a series’ story lines in order to inform and empower the disabilities community.

Set to premiere Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 8:30pm on ABC, Speechless is the network’s newest family sitcom — and the only one of its kind on the air. It follows a family with a child who has a disability.

Maya DiMeo is a mom on a mission who will do anything for her husband, Jimmy, and kids Ray, Dylan, and J.J., her eldest son with cerebral palsy. As Maya fights injustices both real and imagined, the family works to make a new home for themselves and searches for just the right person to help give J.J. his “voice.”

“Speechless” stars Minnie Driver (“About a Boy,” “The Riches,” “Good Will Hunting”) as Maya.

DiMeo, John Ross Bowie (“The Big Bang Theory”) as Jimmy DiMeo, Mason Cook as Ray DiMeo, Micah Fowler as JJ DiMeo, Kyla Kenedy as Dylan DiMeo and Cedric Yarbrough as Kenneth.

Scott Silveri (“Friends”) writes and is executive producer of the show, along with “Fresh Off the Boat”’s Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar. The series is from Twentieth Century Fox Television and ABC Studios.

The Cerebral Palsy Foundation is working with the Speechless team as its technical consultant. However, what is truly unique is its additional role of Foundation Partner. Each week, immediately following each episode of Speechless, CPF will release content its website related to specific issues addressed in that week’s episode. These videos and resources will guided by input from The Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Council, which includes many of the world’s most well known experts on CP. In addition to the website, information will be available through CPF’s social media channels including Twitter and Facebook, so that the Foundation can actively engage in the many conversations the show will begin.

Richard Ellenson, CEO of the Cerebral Palsy Foundation said, “It is wonderful for our Foundation to be a part of the Speechless family. People don’t hear enough about cerebral palsy nor know enough about the condition. But if you consider the individuals in the US alone, we would be the 12th largest city in America.”

Ellenson continued, “Speechless offers an unprecedented opportunity to grow awareness and create meaningful insights about people with CP. The entire Speechless team, including ABC and Fox Studios, have been so enthusiastic about the partnership. The close relationship we’ve built is based on our shared desire that families who have experience with cerebral palsy will be able to relate, and see that they are not going through this alone.”

“We’re thrilled and honored to partner with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation on the project,” said Scott Silveri, the creator of Speechless. “Our job at the show is plain and simple: to tell good stories and make people laugh — this is no documentary about disability. That said, we’re committed to presenting a character with CP in a way that is informed, respectful and authentic. Richard Ellenson and the Foundation have given us a great gift in helping us find the path to that goal.”

This very special collaboration is providing something truly fresh: the freedom for a TV sitcom to explore a specific and compelling world of one family, while also providing a thoughtful way to address the diversity of deeply important issues it brings to our attention.