Autism, Nonverbal Communication, and Telepathy

Introduction

I originally wrote a version of this article for my mom’s newsletter, The Loop!

“Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact, body language, social distance, touch, voice, physical environment/appearance, and use of objects.”

Telepathy is not on that list of examples, but it says “such as,” implying that the list is incomplete. Perhaps we can expect more examples to be told to us directly, in our thoughts. Similar to telepathy.

Main article

If you haven’t already been informed about the popular podcast and upcoming documentary. The telepathy tapesso my comment may seem quite unexpected. (I tried to warn you with telepathy that I was going to bring the topic up, but maybe my goal was wrong?)

From their website: The telepathy tapes dares to explore the profound abilities of nonverbal people with autism. These silent communicators possess gifts that defy conventional understanding, from telepathy to otherworldly perceptions, challenging the boundaries of what we believe to be real.

From me: I remember my mom (international brain change and behavior expert Lynette Louise, “The Brain Broad”) telling us kids about a variety of occasions when our autistic brother, Dar, and our mom communicated this way.

In fact, 36 minutes into the documentary The evolution of indigo (click this link to watch it on YouTube) Mom shares a story about Dar telepathically telling her not to have an affair. (The story is fun but, as is Mom’s way, it is also deeply revealing and thought-provoking… as well as funny.)

People who spend time with autistics (or indigo children or people with similar labels) tend to notice the unexpected and seemingly magical habit that many of them have of sensing the energy and judgments in a room full of people; of making sudden, conscious eye contact in response to a thought in the mind of a parent or sibling; to laugh at a joke that someone in the room only thinks about telling; of projecting or pushing words into the minds of caregivers.

This is too common to ignore.

Exploring telepathy communication is wonderful and I have experienced it myself. My mom and I shared dreams a few times when I was little, before I learned not to believe in them. I suppose we could have shared dreams after that too, but by then I decided to assume it was a coincidence or call it crazy.

Knowing that our brothers and sisters who do not speak have things to say, things that are unique to them and their perspectives, is so necessary. Exploring the variety of ways they express themselves and choose to communicate with us is what it means to care and do science.

However, we must be careful! We must avoid magical thinking: ooohhh, they have special powers and they are beyond us!

And we must not turn the story into one that denies disability.

Too often, a struggle for acceptance becomes a struggle to please our instabilities or disabilities.

When one sense diminishes, we often enhance another. We know this. But it’s not like the superpowers we see in movies and comics, and I think we know that too.

When my mom first adopted our autistic brother, Dar, my little sister and I watched the movie. The boy who could fly with fascination. The boy in the movie is autistic (a term we had never heard before Mom adopted Dar) and although the boy didn’t speak, it turned out he could fly. So our new brother must be able to fly too! We waited, we asked, we closed our eyes and told him to do it while we weren’t looking. In the end, disappointed and disillusioned, we realized that our brother was not going to fly. We stopped asking him. In fact, for a while, we gave up on him. Our poor brother. He probably wanted to escape our disappointed attitudes.

Our dear brother. His lifelong quest to attempt clear communication has been fraught with challenges. When he was still in school and practicing facilitated communication, his ability to put words into his mother’s mind, but not frequently into the minds of others, was initially frustrating and eventually dangerous, causing some terrible situations. One that leads to a painful court case. She explores all of this in candid detail in her phenomenal book. Miracles Are Made: A Real-Life Guide to Autism (published in 2011).

Neither mom nor I have heard yet The telepathy tapesbut we both appreciate its relevance. My mom more. Not only because of her own experiences but because of the conversations and challenges she sees in homes around the world. For over forty years, my mother has been discussing this phenomenon with families of all cultures, economic backgrounds, and belief systems. It is not an uncommon problem and deserves to be explored. Carefully.

If autistic people can communicate using more senses, it follows that most of us have the potential to do so too. Whether it is telepathy or other advanced non-verbal communication skills, it deserves our attention.

The power this science can have to guide (or disorient) us as a community is clear.

Not so much the science itself but how we handle it.

Let’s drive carefully.

Author Credentials:
Tsara Shelton, author of Going in circles and learning about myselfHe is a contributing editor for Disabled World. Explore Tsara’s full biography to get complete information about her background, experience and achievements.

Information and page references

Disabled World (DW) is a comprehensive online resource providing information and news related to disabilities, assistive technologies, and accessibility issues. Founded in 2004, our website covers a wide range of topics, including disability rights, healthcare, education, employment and independent living, with the goal of supporting the disability community and their families.

Cite this page (APA): Shelton, T.D. (2025, January 18). Autism, non-verbal communication and telepathy. Disabled World (DW). Retrieved January 20, 2025 from www.disabled-world.com/health/neurology/autism/telepathy.php

Permanent link: Autism, non-verbal communication and telepathy: Exploring telepathy in autism: a critical look at non-verbal communication and the potential to enhance sensory perception, balancing scientific research with caution against magical thinking.

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