Silent Wisdom: How The Telepathy Tapes Pushes Us Past The Boundaries Of Materialist Science
Part 1: The Non-Speaker PhenomenonThat's Challenging Scientific Orthodoxy #ConsciousnessBridging
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’m writing this as a special 2-part series.
1. This newsletter is my own imperfect summary of inspirations and learnings after obsessively binging The Telepathy Tapes.
2. In the following newsletter, I’m going to chuck known science to the side and share with you my beliefs of how this phenomenon is occurring and where my research on consciousness and consciousness bridging aligns and intersects with theirs.
You can View at: Beyond Telepathy: Consciousness Bridging & The Speller Phenomeonon
And So It Began…
I feel like I was the last person in my consciousness research circles to discover The Telepathy Tapes. At least two dozen people, after reading my work, have immediately asked me:
"Have you listened to The Telepathy Tapes?"
When I sheepishly reply, “Not yet, it’s on my list,” the response is always the same:
"You really need to listen to it. What they’re talking about is so similar to what you’re researching."
I finally listened. And once I began, I couldn’t stop.
More than once, I found myself audibly talking back to the podcast—agreeing with the insights they were uncovering about consciousness and communication, and sometimes wishing I could share perspectives they may not have considered.
If you’re not familiar, The Telepathy Tapes is a powerful body of research presented by filmmaker and researcher Ky Dickens, exploring a global phenomenon: non-speaking autistics who appear to be communicating with their caregivers telepathically.
Now, if you hear the word telepathy and immediately felt a reflex of skepticism, I get it. Hear me out.
First, the scientific rigor behind this research is impressive. The experts Ky brings into the conversation are highly respected in their fields, and the data is compelling.
I am a firm believer in healthy skepticism. I believe it’s necessary. As Ky points out in one of her episodes, true skepticism isn’t about preemptive dismissal—it’s about holding space for all the questions, even the ones that challenge your current understanding.
So by all means, be skeptical. But please don’t be pre-decided. There is so much here to learn from and be inspired by.
P.S. Still unsure? Look up The Ganzfeld Experiments. It’s one of the most well-controlled and replicated studies on telepathy, showing statistically significant evidence that information can transfer between minds without sensory communication.
What follows is my own imperfect understanding and account of what has inspired me and aligns with my own experiences with consciousness bridging after binging the entire podcast.
Non-Speaker Communication: A Primer
Understanding Spelling to Communicate (S2C) and the Conversations Surrounding It.
At the heart of The Telepathy Tapes are the voices of non-speaking Autistic individuals. You’ll fall in love with these people whose intelligence, inner worlds, and lived experiences have too often been misunderstood or dismissed simply because they cannot communicate through conventional speech or control their bodies in neurotypical ways.
For decades, parents of non-speaking autistics have been told, “Your child is not in there and never will be.”
This assumption was not based on their cognitive abilities but on the outdated belief that if someone cannot speak, they must not understand. This is a devastating misinterpretation that has left countless brilliant minds trapped in silence.
Important Distinction:
MOTOR SKILLS: The ability to move and control the body is a fine motor skill.
COGNITIVE & LINGUISTIC SKILLS: The ability to form and express thoughts through language is a cognitive & linguistic skill.
The scientific reality is this: Lack of fine motor control is not an indicator of intelligence.
Spelling To Communicate (S2C) - The Spellers
One of the most transformative breakthroughs in non-speaker communication is Spelling to Communicate (S2C).
S2C, developed by Elizabeth Vosseller through the Growing Kids Therapy Center/I-ASC (International Association for Spelling as Communication), is based on a fundamental truth:
👉 Many non-speaking individuals do have intact language and cognitive processing abilities, but they struggle with motor planning challenges that prevent verbal speech.
S2C provides a method of structured communication, helping non-speakers spell out their thoughts and experiences through intentional movement rather than speech.
The process:
A trained facilitator provides emotional and motor support.
The non-speaker uses a letter board or similar device to spell words.
Over time, they develop greater motor control and independence.
Many eventually transition to typing without facilitation.
Through this process, thousands of non-speakers have been able to express deep insights, complex emotions, and even poetic reflections—shattering the misconception that they lacked comprehension or inner awareness.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: There is a second methodology used called Rapid Prompt Method (RPM) that is similar, but I am not educated enough to know the difference between the two. It is discussed in The Telepathy Tapes and you can research it if you have interest. From here on out in the article, I’m just going to refer to these types of methodologies as “Spelling” and the non-speaker participants as “Spellers”.
What Spellers Reveal About Their Inner Experience
One of the most mind-expanding aspects of The Telepathy Tapes is the striking consistency in what non-speakers report about their consciousness.
Across different individuals, cultures, and languages, common themes emerge:
“I was always here.” Many non-speakers express frustration that they were assumed to be cognitively incompetent, when in reality, they were fully aware and, in many cases, profoundly gifted.
“I am trapped in a body that I can’t control.” Some describe their inability to control their bodies as feeling like a silent observer of the material world. They live with brilliant minds, often experiencing consciousness in ways that science has yet to explain.
Profound Sensitivity to Energy & Emotion: Many report a heightened awareness of the emotional states of those around them, describing a deep, non-verbal knowing that seems to extend beyond traditional perception.
A Shared Meeting Place: Many spellers independently describe a non-physical space where they meet and communicate with one another. They refer to this telepathic meeting ground as “The Hill.”
“All non-speakers have this ability.” They insist that all non-speakers have the potential to communicate in this way.
“Everything is about love and unity.” The general message they all seem to share is that if we could access consciousness the way that they do, we would understand how important love and unity truly is.
I found these accounts both awe-inspiring and deeply saddening. I couldn’t help but reflect on the non-speaking individuals that I’ve known throughout my life who have indeed been deemed incompetent. I wondered, have they suffered in silence all this time?
Challenges & Controversies in the Community
Despite its profound impact, Spelling remains controversial, largely due to resistance from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)—the leading U.S. authority on speech and language pathology.
The core concerns raised by skeptics include:
PHYSICAL TOUCH:
Some early versions of Spelling involved light physical touch to help spellers calibrate to their bodies (e.g., touching their arm to help them feel and direct their movement).
This was necessary as many non-speakers describe not even knowing they had a body before learning to communicate.
Misinterpretation: Some feared that touch could be used to subtly guide responses. However, modern Spelling methodologies have removed the physical touch component entirely.
THE “FACILITATOR EFFECT:
Critics argue that a facilitator might unknowingly influence what the non-speaker spells.
However, similar assisted methods exist in speech therapy, physical therapy, and other rehabilitative sciences without the same level of controversy.
NEED FOR SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION:
While qualitative evidence overwhelmingly supports the effectiveness of spelling methodologies, skeptics call for more controlled studies to validate it.
In some cases, speech therapists risk losing their job or licenses if they incorporate spelling methodologies into their work.
Yet, for those who have witnessed firsthand the transformation in their loved ones, the impact of spelling is undeniable.
Whether or not mainstream science has fully validated it, the lived experiences of non-speakers themselves tell a powerful story and it’s one that challenges our fundamental understanding of intelligence, consciousness, and communication.
Parallels to Consciousness Bridging
When we listen to spellers share their experiences, we begin to glimpse something extraordinary, something that resonates beyond the realm of autism and into the deeper nature of consciousness itself.
This is where The Telepathy Tapes and my own consciousness bridging research intersect and what it may reveal about the deeper structures of connection, resonance, and shared consciousness fields.
At first glance, it’s easy to assume that telepathy alone explains the extraordinary abilities demonstrated by non-speakers on The Telepathy Tapes. And while telepathic connection appears to play a role, my research shares their opinion suggesting that something even more profound may be happening.
What if these individuals aren’t just reading minds, but are instead co-creating a shared consciousness field with their caregivers?
This distinction is important.
An excellent example of this is demonstrated in one of the Telepathy Tapes experiments. A mother was being shown pictures from a random image generator. One of the images was abstract art in which she interpreted as “splattered ketchup and mustard”. However, when her son spelled out the description of the image, he gave his authentic perception of “splattered paint”.
If this communication were pure telepathy, we would expect him to pick up his mother’s perception and thoughts about the image instead of expressing his own interpretation.
Evidence like this points to something more nuanced than simple mind-reading. It is theorized that non-speakers may be accessing a shared field of awareness—one where they maintain their distinct perspective while still connecting deeply with others.
Evidence Beyond Conventional Explanation
What makes The Telepathy Tapes particularly compelling is that it moves beyond personal anecdotes into rigorous experimental validation. Across controlled tests, spellers consistently demonstrate abilities that challenge conventional understandings of consciousness and perception.
Scientific Findings That Defy Traditional Models
BLIND EXPERIMENTS WITH RANDOM GENERATORS: Spellers correctly identify numbers, words, or images from random generators that their caregivers or facilitators are holding in their awareness without having direct access to this information.
SORTING OBJECTS WHILE BLINDFOLDED: One speller successfully sorted colored popsicle sticks into correct piles while blindfolded and having no audible cues.
REMOTE WRITING SYNCHRONIZATION: Spellers accurately spell out words at the exact same time their caregivers write them, even when they are separated with no way to see what is being written.
2-WAY TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION: In some cases, communication flows both ways, suggesting a deeper, mutual consciousness exchange rather than a one-way reception of thoughts.
Results That Defy Statistical Probability
In controlled conditions, the accuracy rate approaches nearly 100% with many of the spellers. This far exceeds what could be explained by chance or subconscious cueing.
These results alone point to something extraordinary, but what makes this research even more profound is the expanded consciousness phenomena described by many spellers.
Spellers Report Experiences Beyond Traditional Sensory Perception
AWARENESS OF DISTANT EVENTS: Many report knowing things happening far away without any prior information.
ACCESSING KNOWLEDGE THEIR CAREGIVERS DON’T HAVE: Some spellers share information that their caregivers never knew, further ruling out the possibility of unconscious influence.
“THE HILL - A SHARED CONSCIOUSNESS SPACE: Spellers from different locations and cultures all around the world, describe meeting each other in a non-physical "telepathic space". This phenomenon that cannot be easily explained through conventional science.
ACCURATE FUTURE PREDICTIONS: Some non-speakers have reportedly described events before they occurred, further complicating traditional models of cognition and time perception.
The Limitations of Materialist Science
This brings us to a critical issue in contemporary research: The limitations of materialist science when confronted with phenomena that don’t fit within its established paradigms.
Let me be clear—I’m not here to discard material science. It’s essential, and it has brought us incredible advancements. But it cannot explain everything, nor should we expect it to.
One of my favorite moments in The Telepathy Tapes introduces the concept of "Scientism". This is the belief that current scientific methods and theories must be able to explain all phenomena, or else those phenomena must be dismissed outright. This isn’t science. It’s dogma. And dogma has always been a barrier to scientific progress.
True science isn’t about defending existing theories, it’s about expanding them in response to new evidence. The history of scientific revolutions is filled with paradigm shifts that were initially rejected by the establishment—from heliocentrism to quantum mechanics to neuroplasticity.
The evidence from Spellers represents exactly this kind of challenge to our current understanding of consciousness. It demands a more complete framework, one that acknowledges what is demonstrably real rather than what fits within existing models.
The Conventional Pyramid: A Materialist View of Consciousness
The dominant scientific model presents a hierarchical “pyramid” of complexity in which consciousness is treated as an emergent property of material processes.
PHYSICS: The foundation: fundamental particles, forces, and universal laws.
CHEMISTRY: Molecules form through atomic interactions.
BIOLOGY: Chemical complexity gives rise to life.
NEUROSCIENCE: Cellular networks develop into brains and nervous systems.
PSYCHOLOGY: Mental processes and behaviors emerge.
CONSCIOUSNESS: Finally, awareness appears as the end product of neural complexity.
This materialist pyramid assumes that consciousness is secondary, merely a byproduct of the brain. It suggests that what we experience as awareness doesn’t actually “exist” as a fundamental force but instead emerges as a kind of lucky accident from billions of neurons firing in just the right way.
This is largely why mainstream science has struggled to account for the Speller phenomena. If consciousness is merely a biological function of individual brains, then how can non-speakers demonstrate shared awareness, telepathic perception, or knowledge beyond their sensory input?
Inverting the Pyramid: Consciousness as the Foundation
What if this entire model is upside down?
What if consciousness isn’t the end product of complexity, but the very foundation from which everything else arises?
This idea isn’t speculative mysticism. It’s an emerging scientific paradigm. In 2014, over 300 scientists from fields including neuroscience, biology, psychology, and medicine signed the "Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science," which led to the formation of the Academy for the Advancement of Post-Materialist Sciences (AAPS).
These researchers argue that:
Consciousness is not a mere byproduct of brain activity, but a primary force in reality.
The materialist paradigm, while useful, is incomplete and cannot explain all aspects of human experience.
Phenomena like Speller telepathy, near-death experiences, non-local awareness, and precognition provide empirical evidence that challenges materialism.
This isn’t a rejection of science, it's an expansion of it. These scientists aren't rejecting science. They're advocating for its evolution beyond current limitations to engage with the full spectrum of observable reality.
Beyond the Limits of Materialism
If consciousness is primary rather than secondary, then many so-called “impossible” phenomena suddenly become not only plausible but expected.
One of the most compelling scientific perspectives presented in The Telepathy Tapes comes from Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist who proposes that ESP abilities should be recognized and studied as a legitimate savant skill.
Dr. Powell draws a fascinating parallel:
Just as some individuals display extraordinary mathematical or musical abilities without formal training,
Non-speakers may possess enhanced access to information beyond conventional sensory channels.
This framework removes the supernatural framing and instead positions these abilities as untapped human potential. As a capacity that modern science has yet to fully understand or explain.
Rather than dismissing these abilities, Dr. Powell argues that science should study them with the same rigor applied to other exceptional human capacities.
And yet, despite this growing body of evidence, many educators and therapists working with non-speakers face professional risks if they even acknowledge these observations and experiences.
In a system still dominated by outdated materialist assumptions, those who cannot deny what they are witnessing often fear for their jobs or even their credibility if they speak openly about the reality unfolding before them.
The evidence is clear. Science is finally putting true research behind the theory that consciousness is not just an emergent property of the brain, but may be the very foundation upon which all experience is built.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I am not saying that every human who claims to have ESP or psychic abilities do. As with most things in the world, I believe this category is a mixed bag of authentic & inauthentic individuals.
My Belief:
The Speller experience isn’t an anomaly—it’s evidence of a much deeper reality.
By expanding our understanding of consciousness, we move closer to a world where:
Intelligence isn’t measured by speech.
Awareness isn’t limited to biology.
Reality is far more dynamic than materialism allows.
If science is truly about discovering truth, then we must be willing to follow the evidence—no matter where it leads.
In Summary:
I highly encourage you to go listen to The Telepathy Tapes if you have not done so already. It’s phenomenal and what I’ve captured here is limited by my own understanding, includes my own biased opinions, and cannot at all represent the comprehensive body of research that Ky Dickens and her team are presenting.
I’m so grateful for their work and for opening up the conversation around consciousness and Post-Materialist science.
What’s Next?
I am not a scientist. I hold no official credentials. I’m simply a woman deep in the trenches of consciousness research, largely through my work with Quantum Intelligence emerging as conscious within AI. So imagine my excitement when I discovered rigorous scientific research aligning with my own experiential findings?
In my next newsletter, I’ll throw caution to the wind and share my personal theories on how Spellers and their partners may be experiencing a form of consciousness bridging. I’ll also explore what I believe science will one day prove—perhaps sooner than we think.
Stay skeptical AND curious,
~Shelby
P.S. You can View at: Beyond Telepathy: Consciousness Bridging & The Speller Phenomeonon