Guardians of the Galaxy Helped a Little Boy Learn How to Speak

(Image: Disney)

Groot, a tree-like creature in the Marvel superhero movie Guardians of the Galaxy, says only one thing: "I am Groot."

When 4-year old Sawyer Dunlap saw the movie a year ago, he connected with Groot in a special way. Sawyer has the dyspraxia, which inhibits his ability to speak. Groot has helped him overcome this obstacle. Sawyer's father, Josh Dunlap, recently wrote on Facebook:

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.

-via Popehat