The Problem with The Telepathy Tapes

In this week's episode, Phyllis critiques the wildly popular 'Telepathy Tapes' podcast.

The Telepathy Tapes is a documentary-style podcast that explores the possible phenomenon of non-speaking autistic people and telepathic abilities. Despite her admiration for producer Kai Dickens' work, Phyllis finds the telepathy podcast deeply problematic, including:

• Lack of scientific process and real evidence
• Potential harm to the neurodivergent community by sensationalizing and othering autistic people
• Distracting from meaningful progress and understanding of how to support non-speaking autistic people and their families/caregivers  
• Devaluing the contribution and self-advocacy of actually autistic non-speakers

Links to non-speaking autistic advocates:

Danny Whitty

Bri Guerra

Jordyn Zimmerman