Children with autism can be just as eager to communicate as other kids their age; they sometimes just do it in a different way. Even those who are nonverbal can communicate with a variety of methods, from sign language to typing to drawing pictures.

Shawn Garan of Connecticut is a dad to 4-year-old twins. One of them, Max, has autism and is nonverbal. In this video, watch Shawn have an unconventional conversation with Max as Max responds in his own unique way.

As Shawn told The Mighty, “I just hope that people will see that [people with autism] have a voice. They can understand what we’re saying, it’s just that some might have a hard time responding back.”

For a child with autism, successfully communicating with others can oftentimes be a challenge. Find out how you can help a child with autism get the speech therapy that many of them need.