LET'S TALK TELEPATHY

part 1: telepathy and autism

I cannot tell you how excited I was when a 2 minute video clip for the Telepathy Tapes appeared on my youtube feed last November, and even more so this year when the podcast was released and rapidly became number one in the chart. If you still haven't listened and you have any interest in the kind of weird shit I talk about then I stronglyyyyy encourage you do because the implications of it are groundbreaking. Truly paradigm shifting.

Of course, nothing that is discussed on the podcast was exactly new for me, having had similar experiences my entire life, but the fact that this is now entering public discourse has me giddy at the thought of a) VINDICATION, and b) having a superb, fascinating, easily accessible source to refer people to, should they be interested. I was raised by scientists so I take providing sources very seriously.

I have spent my entire life being questioned, doubted, gaslit and ridiculed by people around me for daring to express my beliefs and opinions in these topics. This is not completely their fault- it's a byproduct of social programming, and when you have never experienced anything anomalous or ‘paranormal’- for want of a better word- I suppose it's easy to just believe the status quo. However my beliefs are informed by my own experiences. And wanting to share these experiences (because it's very exciting- the realisation that the world is far stranger than we were taught! The possibilities!), only to be met with raised eyebrows, questioning my sanity and intelligence, takes a toll. And my experiences have been far more fleeting than the individuals featured on Ky Dickens’ new series, so I can only imagine how alienating it has been for them to exist within a system that denies the possibility of their experience. I am so grateful for everyone involved in this series and so excited that this is finally out there.

When I shared with a loved one that I was working on a substack article on telepathy, she asked me ‘telepathy and autism, or telepathy?’ and I guess this is telepathy from my perspective, which can't exactly be separated from autism so, yes, telepathy and autism, but I do not believe these abilities are unavailable to allistic (non autistic) individuals, it just doesn't necessarily occur so spontaneously. More on that later.

So let's talk a bit about the autistic experience and how I think that enables states of extra sensory perception first. Obvious disclaimer: I can talk about my experience of this condition but I am clearly not a medical professional so if you want to learn more please do your own research. Please always do your own research anyway. I am also fairly new to understanding this aspect of myself and there's probably loads more to add but here are a few points I think are relevant to ‘telepathy and autism’.

First of all- last year I saw a study from 2014 that found that autistic children’s brains were generating and processing up to 42% (forty two) more information, at rest, than neurotypical brains. That's A LOT more happening inside the autistic brain, and probably explains why people with autism are often overwhelmed with sounds, lights, busy spaces, etc. This study talks about this being a withdrawal from the external world into one's own world, but I see that as a reaction to just how overwhelming processing sensory information can be at times.

(heres the source)
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140131130630.htm#:~:text=New%20research%20finds%20that%20the,into%20one's%20own%20inner%20world.

Another thing I think is relevant and interesting is the difference in synaptic pruning in allistic vs. autistic brains. (In the images above, the < left is the neurotypical or allistic neuron, and the one on the right > is the autistic one notice the difference?) Our synapses are junctions between our neurons which allow chemical or electrical signals to pass from one neuron to another (essentially, pathways for sharing information within the brain). In early infancy, our synapses expand rapidly, and as we grow and age, we go through a process called synaptic pruning which is where these points of connection are pruned, like branches on a tree, if deemed redundant. This allows our brains to work more efficiently. Allistic (neurotypical) adults have up to 50% (fifty) less synapses than newborns. Autistic brains, however, do not go through the same amounts of pruning. Autistic adults only have about 16% (sixteen) less synapses than newborns.

(Heres a good article on this if you want to read more.)
https://embrace-autism.com/synaptic-growth-synesthesia-and-savant-abilities/

Once again, this shows that the autistic experience is more intense than the neurotypical experience. We process information differently. We experience more intensely. We sense more, we feel more, we absorb more, we process more, because these synapses are still firing with the intensity of a newborn’s brain. This is probably a huge part of the reason that many autistic people have meltdowns (almost like toddler tantrums), shutdowns, and burnout. Things that neurotypical people can handle with ease become too much for autistics. And if we sense more, why would that be constrained to the 5 physical senses?

If our synapses are still firing with the intensity of a newborn's brain, does that mean we are still experiencing the world (in some aspects) like children? I have often been told that I am childlike in certain ways, so perhaps. You know what a lot of children have in common? They often see and interact with things that adults around them can't. This is super common. Children say some freaky shit. They talk to people that aren't there and then they point out some long-dead relative in a photo album and claim that's their invisible friend. They know things they shouldn't, ask questions about which they should have no context or understanding of. When I was 4 years old I told my mum in great detail about a past life I remembered. (Maybe I’ll go into that another time.) Are these examples of, as we are told, figments of a child’s imagination or are we simply able to sense more at that age, having not yet been taught what is and isn’t possible, what to filter out ?

Another thing I think plays into the autistic ability to access states of telepathy with more ease is to do with connection to the body. People who have Autism, ADHD and EDS often struggle with proprioception- the ability to sense our body, its position and movements. It SHOULD be an automatic sense but it isn't for people like myself, and is why many people who are adhd /autistic/ hypermobile don't have great posture- it takes us effort to tune into our physical body. The less connected you are to the body and the material realm, the more that other senses have the chance to strengthen. The combination of being able to sense and process more information but still being somewhat disconnected from sensing our physical bodies, to me, signifies a heightened capacity for extra sensory perception (ESP), under which telepathy falls. For neurotypical people to experience ESP, they often have to get into a calm and relaxed physical state to tune in to send or receive information. PLENTY of studies with findings of statistical significance have been done on ESP and if you want to research more I recommend starting with this Mitch Horowitz talk.

Im going to leave this here for now but I have a LOT more to say so please stay tuned for part 2 where I will discuss my experiences with telepathy and ESP, further research, and how I believe we can all tap into these abilities + how to get into these specific states of being (you dont have to be autistic, but it helps!) 💜

please comment with any thoughts and feelings you might have (I would welcome telepathic messages but im currently in do not disturb mode).