How Groot From ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Helped One Young Fan Overcome His Speech Disorder

When four-year-old Sawyer Dunlop first heard Groot speak in the amazing Guardians of the Galaxy movie, he instantly connected with the character. Sawyer suffers from Dyspraxia. A condition that affects a child’s motor functions and can impair their ability to speak, among other problems. Sawyer’s Dad, Josh, started noticing some amazing changes in his son after they saw the film. You can read the full message above in the pic, but here it is for those who don’t want to squint:

Hi James…This is in response to your recent post about Guardians being released a year ago and the effect it has had on my son. My son is four years old and has a condition known as dyspraxia, which not only interferes with motor skills but speech as well. When Guardians came out Sawyer could only say about three words and would communicate to his mother and I by other means. When he saw Groot, something clicked inside him and he connected with him on a level I haven’t seen. He began to mimic him and he would use the word “Bah” for a lot, but after he saw the film, he would change the tone in which he said it to convey a different meaning. He would also start saying Groot for many things as well. Since that, he was finally able to go to a speech class and it has helped amazingly. I just wanted to thank you though, for a script and movie that was written so well that a four year old, three at that time, could connect with someone who had the same language barrier.

We all knew Guardians was a magical movie. The truth is, we just didn’t know HOW magical until now. And I guess that part at the end of the movie when Groot says “WE are Groot” rings with a lot more truth than any of us knew at the time.

Faith restored in humanity for another week.

(H/T to Neatorama, story via James Gunn’s Facebook)