“Speechless” creator Scott Silveri has revealed that Season 2 will explore what Maya is without JJ.

In an interview with Uproxx, Silveri said that the sophomore run of the ABC comedy will delve into JJ’s (Micah Fowler) aging and what that means for him and his mother, Maya (Minnie Driver).

“There’s so much that’s available to a kid with a disability. Then, the older you get, there’s a little less,” said Silveri who grew up in a home with a nonverbal brother with cerebral palsy. “There’s a little less infrastructure. It’s a little less cute to people. There’s less novelty and help. [So] now we’re feeling like, ‘What is JJ’s life going to be?’ He’s going to apply to college. He’s going to have to become realistic about what his options are while challenging himself.”

Meanwhile, JJ’s growing independence is going to give Maya an opportunity to discover who she is without worrying that much about her eldest child.

“She doesn’t want to hold [JJ] back, but at the same time, ‘This kid’s been my life forever, what am I without him?’” Silveri said of Maya’s dilemma next season. “It’s going to open up new worlds for her about where is she, what is her place in the world, in a world that’s already a little less dominated by him. Now he’s in the school, and he’s got an aide, and he’s going to be more independent, and she’s going to get more independent, we want to meet her family.”

Driver hinted at the introduction of Maya’s family to the show during her interview with the Los Angeles Times last April. “We haven’t really explored who Maya’s family is,” Driver said. “We’ve known some of Jimmy’s (John Ross Bowie) family. I think there’s a lot to be mined out of that [like] what she was on the path to do before she found herself pregnant and then gave birth to child who has a severe disability. Do we return to some of that? Do we try to find that as JJ becoming more independent? Does Maya get her previous life? I don’t know. [But] I’m imagining, yes [because] these are all conversations we had and continue to have.”

“Speechless” Season 2, episode 1 airs on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 8:30 p.m. EDT on ABC.

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