Can I hear your thoughts?

 It’s that season in autism land yet again when a theory that by no means provides any benefit to any autistic, but on the contrary paints the most marginalised of us as exotic psychics, is doing rounds; this time in the garb of a 14 episode podcast called The Telepathy Tapes. The theory postulating the existence of telepathy, or mind reading ability , in non speaking autistics is nothing new. This theory was first proposed by Diane Hennecy Powell, a neuropsychiatrist whose work on ESP and telepathic abilities that certain people with  autism and very high support needs possess can be best described as controversial. While there is very little to no scientific evidence to back this claim, with Dr Powell herself admitting that the population which is supposed to possess this extraordinary skill is also a group that is hard to conduct a study on, certain ‘ambitious’ stakeholders including parents, therapists and educators have continued to propagate that their autistic wards, typically those with autism and possibly co existing intellectual disability and medical conditions, who typically use a letter board or do not possess a reliable mode to  communicate, do , in fact possess this marvellous skill of being able to hear their caregiver’s or educators’ thoughts, and communicate with them telepathically. In short, the ones that need maximum support are the ones that are being pegged as psychic geniuses of sorts.

As a non speaker, I often wonder why do people make these claims? And why are these claims made in the context of the most vulnerable segment of the population- the ones who do not possess the ability to stand up for themselves and refute these  claims. The answer is probably a very complex one. Autism, as we all know, is a wide spectrum that encompasses a wide range of abilities and degree of challenges. The same is true for non speaking autism as well. With the advent of technology based AAC, many of us non speakers have found our voice, meaningful engagement and our calling. This, in turn, is bringing about a slow shift in society’s understanding of non speaking autism. But, when we think about it, we realise that the percentage of non speakers positively impacted by this shift follows a normal distribution curve. A small percentage of non speakers have gone on to achieve brilliant academic results, a majority of us lead average, but fulfilling lives with our share of ups and downs, and a small percentage of non speakers who struggle extensively with self regulation, sleep and more , who do not pick up the ability to communicate reasonably, unless they are extensively prompted- in short, the category that is supposed to possess the so-called telepathy skills.

Media and literature tends to portray autism in a very stereotypical way- a combination of certain exceptional skills in some spheres and a complete lack of skills in others; often creating false expectations in the minds of stakeholders, including parents. Does this, combined with the sheer frustration and helplessness of watching your child experience intense dysregulation, prompt the parents to desperately look for non existent superpowers? Are conspiracy theorists and pseudo science believers taking advantage of parental frustration? Would this category not be the perfect scapegoat for propounding conspiracy theories, for it is a group on which any kind of research is nearly impossible? Another rational thought worth considering is this- should a person really possess the ability to communicate telepathically with a parent, the frustration and dysregulation owing to a lack of voice would not exist at all!

Humanity has made great strides, all owing to our ability to think, apply the existing body of knowledge to achieve better understanding of something, identifying the things that need to be worked upon to improve life outcomes and research to find ways to improve these outcomes. But when it comes to autism, precious little research has been done to improve the life outcomes for the most vulnerable segment that is in dire need of these services. Ludicrous claims that paint the segment as possessing weird psychic powers serve no purpose besides alienating the group further from the society at large. This, dear reader, is the food for thought that I hope to leave you with.

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