Watch How This Nonverbal 5-Year-Old Reacts to Hearing Sara Bareilles Sing

AJ Stafford just celebrated his 5th birthday. This is a significant milestone for him and his family, as AJ lives with numerous medical conditions, primarily cerebral palsy and epilepsy, Local 12 News reported. He is unable to walk, roll over or verbally communicate, and he usually reacts minimally to his surroundings.

But AJ’s parents recently discovered something that could potentially change their son’s life. When Stephanie and Andy Stafford played a song by Sara Bareilles on their way home to North Bend, Ohio, after a recent vacation, they saw their son do something he’d never done before. AJ began excitedly vocalizing and moving his feet to the music.

Stephanie Stafford was so thrilled by her son’s giddy response to Bareilles’s music that she took to social media to try to snag the singer’s attention. Stafford posted the video below of AJ listening to Bareilles’s song “Brave” to Facebook on July 31.

  Since Stafford posted the video, it’s gotten nearly 14,000 views and more than 400 shares. Stafford hopes the video will garner enough attention that Bareilles will see it and reach out to AJ. “My hope for AJ is that he’s just happy,” Stafford told Local 12 News in the video below. “That he just enjoys life and when he listens to music, especially Sara [Bareilles], he’s happy. And that means a lot to us.” Learn more about the Staffords’ story in the video below.