James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy is not only a great film, it has also done some good in the world. Four-year-old Sawyer Dunlop suffers from a condition called dyspraxia, which affects a child’s motor functions and can impair their ability to speak. After he watched Guardians of the Galaxy, though, something seemed to change in him. The young boy connected with Groot in a way helped him make some incredible changes. Sawyer’s Dad, Josh, posted a message to Gunn on Facebook, explaining what has happened:
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.
It’s great to see some of the magic from this movie rub off into the world. This is one of those stories that might help restore your faith in humanity: this goes to show that good things happen in the world. We are Groot.
How GUARDIANS OF THE GALLAXY’S Groot Helped a Child Overcome His Speech Disorder