Ben Ploehn races home from school to get to an intense chess match at Barnes & Noble, he is competing against adults and doing well. He says when he started he was only able to plan one move ahead, like most beginners, now he can think about 5 or 6 moves ahead. This is exactly why Ben's father got him started with chess.
As a child Ben was diagnosed with speech dyspraxia a disorder which is either a neurological immaturity or impairment of the way the brain processes information making communication difficult. Ben's dyspraxia was the result of an immaturity in his brain and made his sentences come out rushed and non-sensical. When his parents were faced with putting him into special education classes, in spite of the fact that their son is quite intelligent, his father thought of chess.
Learning how to play chess well required Ben to plan his moves ahead of time, working that part of his brain, along with speech therapy, helped train that immature part of his brain which caused his dyspraxia to work in the same way when it came to speaking. I love stories like these where parents find innovative ways to help their children, and they work.
