The telepathy tapes

Making the future of church neurodiverse

Jacob Hayward
January 03, 2025

The telepathy tapes

Autism is on the rise. In 2006, it was determined that 1 in 110 people were autistic. As of 2023, the number is now closer to 1 in 36. Many experts expect this number to continue to climb.

The current cultural sentiment around autism is that those with autism are a “burden” on society. There have been many papers on the financial burden autistic individuals are on the countries’ tax base¹ . But there is a cost to the families raising autistic children as well. There are special programs to help with their care and development. It places strain on the relationships within the family unit and also the community, as the family has a harder time fitting into a world that expects neuro-normality.

The weight of the diagnosis has led to the “hope” that prenatal screening would help determine if the child would develop autism, giving the parent the option to abort the child. This is already happening in America with Down Syndrome children, with numbers suggesting that 2/3 Down Syndrome children are aborted² . Others suggest the number is closer to 90 percent³ .

I think we need to have a serious conversation on what it means to be “normal”. The reality is that those with autism and Down Syndrome and many other mental disabilities live beautiful lives and make the world around them better. For many, in my experience, these folks bring more joy and hope into the world than those with ”normal” brains.

We need to be talking in our churches about neurodiversity. If a growing population in our community is being diagnosed with autism, are we creating spaces that not only include this group of people, but also celebrate them as important voices in our congregation.

But “The Telepathy Tapes” takes it even further…

…What if the nonverbal autistic group is not only viable, but host to an incomprehensible gift like telepathy?

“The Telepathy Tapes” is a podcast series by Ky Dickerson that is exploding across the world. It presents the case that the non-verbal autistic children that surround you and I are telepathic. That this growing group of individuals in our society have a clearer understanding of consciousness than those who can speak. Speech, in some way, limits our ability to comprehend and participate in an unseen world of communication.

Play along with me and let’s give the team presenting this idea the benefit of the doubt. Think of the amazing changes this would make:

The way we view autism would dramatically change.
Our communal spaces would seek to be more inclusive of “normal” and autistic brains.
Educators would discontinue a system that treats a nonverbal autistic child as one with an elementary brain but instead teach on much higher things. The child would be viewed as extremely capable.
Our understanding of human cognition, communication, and consciousness would change.
We would work tirelessly to develop an entire new way of communicating.
Practically, think about how telepathy could dramatically help in fields like therapy, where someone could tap into the hurt that you don’t even know how to describe. Or science, where clear communication is essential: telepathy could overstep the imperfection of language.

But what if the tapes are wrong?

Even if they are full of it and they are wrong, should it not still change the way that we treat those diagnosed with autism? That we should live as if they are capable, deserving of more care and respect? Should we not be spending more time not asking people to conform to a type of “normalcy” and instead celebrate the diverse brains in our community?

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It would help me a lot. Thanks for reading!