‘I Am Groot’ Helped Teach A Young Boy With Dyspraxia How To Speak

The Marvel movie with the most Blue Swede songs on its soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy, has inspired a countless amount of Photoshopped fan art, rap battles, and slash fiction, not to mention a porn parody, which, seriously, do not mention it. But the film also taught a 4-year-old boy with dyspraxia, a condition that makes coordination difficult, how to communicate.

Here’s what the boy’s dad wrote on Guardians director James Gunn’s Facebook:

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.

Gunn’s response: “I love making movies because of stories like this. Thank you.”

(Via Facebook)

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