
Non-speakers communicate telepathically because it's a lifeline. One mom finds out just how far this gift extends.
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Ryan Reynolds
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Ryan Reynolds
Hey, what's up everyone? This is Kai Dickens and you're listening to the Telepathy Tapes podcast.
Katie Dickens
My son said to me, I can hear thoughts. What is this phenomena happening? Why are his mind and my mind completely connected? Telepathy is the tip of the iceberg with their spiritual gifts.
Ryan Reynolds
People don't understand that they can do this.
Katie Dickens
They don't even have to be in.
Ryan Reynolds
The same room, the same zip code. For decades, a very specific group of people have been claiming telepathy is happening in their homes and in their classrooms, and nobody has believed them. Nobody has listened to them. But on this podcast, we do. Welcome to the third episode of the Telepathy Tapes. Today we'll delve into how prevalent this phenomenon is and whether telepathy extends beyond a parent and child connection. After meeting Akhil, my questions started changing. I was no longer asking if telepathy was possible, but started asking how it was possible. I was reading stacks of books and digesting dozens of articles, and I was fascinated to learn that people have been researching and testing telepathy in earnest ever since the 1880s. And when radio waves were first sent across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901.
Katie Dickens
Marconi amazed the world by sending and.
Ryan Reynolds
Receiving wireless messages 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. The idea that telepathy might be a type of radio signal started to seep into the ether. The acclaimed author Upton Sinclair even wrote the book Mental Radio, showcasing telepathy experiments he's done with his wife. And while researching radio waves, one night I stumbled across this amazing story. I had some dental work to be done. You know, they put in temporary fillings. This is beloved starlet Lucille Ball sharing a story from around the time of World War II, when she had to get several temporary fillings put in the upper and lower parts of her mouth. This particular night was about 1:15 and I was driving alone and all of.
Katie Dickens
A sudden I heard music. And I turned, looked down to turn.
Ryan Reynolds
Off my radio and it wasn't on.
Katie Dickens
I turned around and looked to see.
Ryan Reynolds
If there's anyone behind me.
Katie Dickens
And the music was getting louder and louder and louder. And I realized it was in my mouth and it was beating in my ears.
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, I could hear the tune and everything.
Katie Dickens
I recognized the tune and then it started to fade out. So the next day I mentioned it at the studio to Buster Keaton. And he said, what street were you on? Moore Park. And I said, yes. He said, you went by the radio.
Ryan Reynolds
Station, you picked it up.
Katie Dickens
Well, you got any feelings? I said, yes. He said, you picked it up in your teeth.
Ryan Reynolds
Though she tried to hear the music again over the next few nights, she never did. However, about five nights later, I was.
Katie Dickens
Going up another street. I heard, and I'm picking it up on my teeth. And I backed the car up and.
Ryan Reynolds
It got stronger and stronger and I kept on backing it up until it.
Katie Dickens
Really got strong and my whole jaw was vibrating.
Ryan Reynolds
She had picked up a Morse code transmission from an underground Japanese station. Honest to God. And Lucille Ball wasn't the only person who claimed this had happened to them. In fact, there's many accounts out there. Andrea Puharch, a researcher, medical inventor and physician who was studying ESP in the mid-1900s, found a man who had been admitted to a psychiatric ward for hearing voices Babe Ruth meant to a newspaper man approach. The man had worked in a machine shop. When they analyzed his metal fillings, they were coated with carborundum dust, a semiconductor. He was picking up radio signals. The man's teeth were cleaned and the voices stopped. These stories simply suggest that under the right conditions, our brain can act as a receiver of radio signals. Which leads the curious among us to wonder well, what else can the brain do? And one of these curious people is the mother I meet next. Her name is Katie and she's based in Georgia. Dr. Diane received her first email from Katie a few weeks after I had returned home from meeting Akil. Katie said telepathy is a shared reality amongst many in their Atlanta based community. They're open about it. Not only this, but Katie noted that she's met dozens of parents who say their kids telepathically communicate with each other. I asked Dr. Diane if she could set up a phone call with Katie so I could meet her and her son Houston. Hi, how are you? Hi Houston.
Katie Dickens
Hi, Katie.
Ryan Reynolds
On the Zoom, Houston is sitting next to his mom, Katie. We talk for well over an hour, getting to know each other. And Katie's transparent about the fact that many spellers and their parents are reticent to share their stories and let in outsiders because there have been so many gotcha moments collectively throughout the past 40 years. Houston starts to write something on his letterboard during the Zoom call, he's been patiently sitting next to his mom Katie. When he communicates, Katie holds the letterboard perfectly still and Houston points to letters with his finger.
Katie Dickens
Having my story told and how I want to tell it is so important to me.
Ryan Reynolds
We talk about the importance of Houston sharing his unfiltered truth. And by the end of the call we are all excited about the prospect of Dr. Diane Powell and myself heading down to Georgia to do some telepathy tests. I asked Katie and Houston if they'd be okay if I brought a small camera crew and they said that was fine. And before we get off the call, I sheepishly ask about Katie's letter to Diane. So Houston, your mom communicates something to Dr. Powell and I'm just wondering if you can read your friends minds. Katie picks up the letterboard for Houston and he writes, definitely.
Katie Dickens
All of us talk to each other. It's called the Talk on the Hill. Called the Talk on the Hill. They all talk to each other.
Ryan Reynolds
Think of it like a channel.
Katie Dickens
Like they all turn to this channel at a certain time and they all.
Ryan Reynolds
Communicate and, and they don't have to be in the same room at all.
Katie Dickens
They don't have to be in the same zip code.
Ryan Reynolds
This felt like an astounding breakthrough in the unraveling mystery of telepathy that was starting to consume my life. And I wanted to get down to Georgia immediately to understand this more. I talked to Dr. Diane and she did a separate Zoom call with Houston to do some remote telepathy. Tests to make sure it would be worthwhile for her to go down and test Houston. After both of our separate zoom conversations, we are both in agreement that visiting Katie and Houston would be worthwhile and circumstantial in our quest to understand this better. Beyond that, Houston has buddies in Georgia that he telepathically commits communicates with on the Hill. And Katie was excited to introduce us to some of those families as well. Dr. Diane thought we should also bring Dr. Jeff Tarrant with us down to Atlanta. Dr. Tarrant is the QEEG specialist who conducted Mia's brain scan in episode one. However, we learned something in the last episode, which is this might not just be sheer telepathy. It might be more of a merging of a consciousness. And if that's true, we need Jeff to ideally scan both Katie and Houston's mind at the same time to understand the phenomenon in a more concrete way. I hopped on the phone with Jeff to find out if there was equipment like this out there and if it's something that we could make happen.
Katie Dickens
I've got a friend who builds EEG equipment and software.
Ryan Reynolds
I've been talking with him about hyperscanning. Hyperscanning is a technique that allows the simultaneous recording of brain activity in different subjects. Jeff's friend is able to build a hyperscanner that we can bring with to Atlanta. So we will be able to simultaneously record two people. In the future, we'll be able to do a whole group before showing up on her doorstep. I want you to start to get a picture of who Katie is. Katie can best be described as a resilient, steadfast warrior. She married a handsome jock who turned out to be horribly abusive. Five kids later, she escaped him and was left to fend for herself. As a single mom, the trauma and struggle she endured was made even more difficult because her oldest son, Houston, started slipping away around 10 months.
Katie Dickens
Every day there was less and less and less of him until the point where he didn't seem to be with us. Back then, it took a very long time to get a diagnosis. And when you finally got a diagnosis, it was a death sentence. It was labeled as severe autism, completely non speaking. And they tell you that there is no hope.
Ryan Reynolds
Katie lived through years of loneliness and turbulence and hopelessness. And though it's hard, I want to immerse you in it because it makes the reality that she's living today that much more magnificent.
Katie Dickens
Houston was always running when he was young. You could hardly catch him. He never stopped moving. He seemed tortured. And yet there would be These moments where you would see him finding delight. Like the movie Flubber. He would put his hands on his belly and throw himself back and laugh. And I'm like, you can't have that much joy and not be in there, as they told me. And yet every year, there's a whole other set of psychology tests and exams and evaluations to reinforce that if you haven't already given up, you need to.
Ryan Reynolds
And beyond the logistical frustrations that Katie felt navigating Houston's diagnosis, everything was compounded by a shrinking social reality.
Katie Dickens
It's so isolating because we have to essentially live our lives in a way where we don't bother other people. And it's not just you. It's all your kids are living this outcast life. You're not included in any part of society. Not in school, not in church, not out in the community, even in the grocery store. You're a nuisance. There's nowhere for you to go. It took me a very long time to give up hope. A part of me breaks inside to give up.
Ryan Reynolds
And though it broke her to her core to do it, she gave up on Houston. But what happened next is profound. Houston did not let her.
Katie Dickens
Houston was 17 years old. I was working three jobs at the time. And I came home the night before Thanksgiving, and I was so tired that my body was literally vibrating. And I was laying there, and I just wanted to nap. Houston came downstairs and sat at my feet, which he had never done before in his life. And he sat there completely still. And this is someone who's in literally 24 hours a day motion. And then all of a sudden, he reached over and very intentionally tugged at the blanket, just like you would to get someone's attention. And he said, mama. And I was shocked because I had never, ever heard my son say my name. He was 17. And I opened my eyes, and he was looking directly into my eyes, which he had also never done. And he said, I love you. I was speechless. And so I was essentially given this opportunity. I could keep not believing that there was any hope or I could believe in a miracle. So I decided in that moment, I was going to believe in a miracle.
Ryan Reynolds
When we arrive in Atlanta, there was a big grip truck with film equipment on it and lots of crew members milling about outside of Houston and Katie's house. And I'm instantly worried about how this is going to impact Houston. I rush into the house and try to find him, and Katie and Houston are by the door greeting people. They are effusively loving and joyful. And calm amidst the chaos of a crew descending on their home. Katie shows me around their house, and Houston heads upstairs. After a minute, Katie and I go up there to find him. Houston's bedroom has rocks and stones and crystals everywhere. Wow, Houston, this is incredible. I asked Katie how his passion for collecting stones started.
Katie Dickens
A friend of mine gave me three stones, and when she gave them to me, she said she had prayed over them. So this was very strange to me. I'm an evangelical Christian, and this was just not part of my practice in my faith. So I really didn't know what to make of this. I took them home, and I was in my bathroom, and I heard the bedroom door slam open. And then the bathroom door slammed open, and Houston started shouting, stones, stones, stones. And he wouldn't stop. And so I just was like, here, take them. I mean, I didn't know what to do with them. So anyway, I went into his room a little bit later, and he had lined these three stones up on his bedside table on the very edge, and he was lying on the very edge of his bed as close as he could get to these stones. I was completely baffled by the scene. And I said to him, houston, what's all this? He sat straight up, and he started spelling. When you're autistic, you're a magnet for all energy, good and bad. These stones have good energy. I need more good energy.
Ryan Reynolds
Katie also told me a story about buying her other son a pair of dice made out of gemstones for Christmas. Right when they arrived, she wrapped them up and hid them. When Houston got home from school, he immediately went and found the box, saying that he could feel the energy of the rocks coming from it. All this, said Katie, leaned into Houston's love of stones. Houston was sitting on his bed holding one of his enormous quartz crystals. I asked him why he loves stones, and he wrote.
Katie Dickens
All the living things I see and hear, that includes stones, plants, animals, trees, like all of it.
Ryan Reynolds
I couldn't imagine the sensory overload that must flood his brain.
Katie Dickens
When I started doing some investigating, I found out that stones have a very unique set of traits. They have piezoelectric energy, which means it can transmit mechanical to electrical energy and electrical to mechanical. I found out that each stone actually has a hertz that can actually be measured.
Ryan Reynolds
I googled this myself, and it's true. All elements have a frequency or set of frequencies at which they vibrate. The fact that Houston is more keyed into these frequencies may be a clue into how and why telepathy is possible.
Katie Dickens
He's Experiencing essentially a greater spectrum of the electromagnetic spectrum. He could feel all these different wavelengths.
Ryan Reynolds
Katie is a voracious reader and researcher. This here is just a small insight into the lengths that she's gone to try to understand how telepathy works. Houston's bedroom felt great, and I could tell that he felt safe and good in there. So I asked Michael, my cameraman and cinematographer, to go grab some of the crew so that we could start filming. But before we started filming, Katie prayed for the shoot.
Katie Dickens
We pray for your protection.
Ryan Reynolds
And she prayed for the camera crew and me and Dr. Powell, the other.
Katie Dickens
Scientists that are all working with us so that we can share these incredible gifts with the world.
Ryan Reynolds
And I think it's really important to mention that Katie had lost her faith completely. Having suffered for years being beat down by a life that just wouldn't quit. The only reason she gained it back was by experiencing what she can best describe as miracles, miracles involving her son, Houston. Then we hung out and chatted a bit. Where we left off in Katie's story. Houston had just said, mama, I love you, in a moment of still clarity that shook her to her core.
Katie Dickens
I didn't care what the experts said. I'd been given one little moment of miraculous, and that's what I wanted for my whole life. I wanted to know my son. And if he could sit there and look me in the eyes, say my name, and tell me that he loved me, I knew there was hope. I had met with this psychologist, and he said, have you ever heard of rpm?
Ryan Reynolds
RPM stands for rapid prompting method, and it's one of the methods of spelling, which allows non speakers to communicate by pointing to letters, and was like, no.
Katie Dickens
Never heard of it. He printed off a sheet, and he gave me a mom's number, and he said, go talk to this mom. Her son communicates this way. He's like, houston. And I was like, there's no way. All right, sure, I'll go talk to her. And she's showing me these pages and pages of things that her son has written, and I'm like, her son must not be that severe. My son had the kind of autism where you smeared feces, where you ran away, where he screamed, where he would run around naked all the time. Houston had no control and no way to communicate to us. So for her to tell me that her son was doing all this, I thought the explanation was, he has more control over his body.
Ryan Reynolds
Like many parents I meet who have been told for years their kids aren't in there. The thought of teaching them to Communicate felt like a fool's errand. Beyond that, spelling is not taught in most schools, and given her situation, it must have felt almost impossible to put money and time, the scarcest resources in her life, behind something she didn't believe was possible. Katie did a bit more research.
Katie Dickens
We had a friend that uses RPM to communicate. And I went to visit him and literally sat there in absolute shock as he spelled out the answer to every single question that I asked him. I was heartbroken because I realized that my son was in there, too. And he'd been trapped for over two decades and never given this opportunity to have a voice. So the things that he had lost out on because I didn't know and because I listened to all the experts and how I had failed him, those were my initial thoughts, followed by, I have to know my son. I went home. I walked right up to Houston's bedroom, opened the door, and I looked at him and I said, houston, I'm getting you a voice. And he had this. He looked at me with the strangest look. I was absolutely resolute that this was going to happen.
Ryan Reynolds
And it did. They worked hard. It wasn't easy. It took practice and patience and commitment and. But at the age of 21, Houston wrote his first full sentence on his letterboard.
Katie Dickens
I sat there in shock as my son spelled, I'm in here on this board.
Ryan Reynolds
She holds up a black board with stencil letters punched out of it. The board is no bigger than a piece of computer paper, and it is surreal to think that this piece of plastic was the key to unlocking an entire human being.
Katie Dickens
Yeah, changed our lives. My hope, which had been sputtering along now it had gasoline. And so it was explosive in our lives to get my son everything that had been taken from him.
Ryan Reynolds
Like all parents in Katie's situation, they go through a period of discovering who their kid is and what they know.
Katie Dickens
I began to find out that my son knew far beyond what they would teach in a classroom. A lot of history, a lot of important events in spiritual knowledge as well. He had never had any education at all, so I didn't understand how he could know so much.
Ryan Reynolds
It's important to note that Houston, like thousands of non speakers around the world, are not taught as if they're smart. They're often taught preschool lessons like colors and shapes on repeat. Even through high school, he was denied.
Katie Dickens
Any education because they assumed, based on the fact that he can't control his body, he has no understanding of it.
Ryan Reynolds
To quickly interject here, if you have a Hard time coordinating motor function and regulating your body. Testing behavior is not a good way to test intelligence. It's almost like testing a blind person's intelligence by asking them to read. And this is what Katie's getting at. Houston was denied an education because people were judging his behavior and assuming he wasn't smart.
Katie Dickens
And when he began to explain, he had to teach himself to read. And not just him, but his friends. They would all find incredible ways to educate themselves. If one of them learned something, they would all teach each other.
Ryan Reynolds
But how could they teach each other if they couldn't communicate?
Katie Dickens
I was confused by that. How do y'all have conversations when none of you can speak? And he explained that they all have unique gifts and that they're able to communicate to each other telepathically.
Ryan Reynolds
But before exploring the idea that non speakers can communicate with each other telepathically, I wanted to understand how Katie came to believe her son was telepathic at all. She grew up in a very conservative community and family, and things like telepathy were not ever considered possible. So can you take me back to the very first moment when he first revealed he could read your thoughts and just what your reaction was? That had to be just really upsetting.
Katie Dickens
Terrifying. He'd been just giving me this incredible amount of information, and one of my sons was questioning, how does he know all this? And being very critical. And I was upset with him for being so critical and not believing in his brother. But the question still remained. How was he learning? The question that I asked him was, how did you learn all of this? Do you have really good hearing? And he said, I'm special. And I said, oh, of course you're special. I'm sure he was rolling his eyes in his head, and he said, I can hear thoughts. And I said, bullshit. I did not believe him. And I questioned him, and I said, are you sure you're telling the truth? And he said to me, you don't get the kind of gifts that I have if you lie. So then I asked him a question in my head without speaking. And he answered the question that I had asked him in my head. Then I brought my son and his friend up to witness it. And I had told the young man that was his friend. I said, kit, get a thought in your head and sit there and don't think anything but that. And Houston spelled out what that young man was thinking. Then I called my daughter, and she didn't believe me. She said, no, he can't, mom. I said, like, send me something. So she had her husband tell her something to text. She texted it to me. He never saw the text. And he spelled out what was on the text.
Ryan Reynolds
Did you ask him when his ability to hear thoughts started?
Katie Dickens
Houston said that he doesn't remember a time when he did not hear thoughts. He also says that everyone with non speaking and unreliably speaking autism have this ability. All he said it might differ in strength from one person to another, but they all have this gift.
Ryan Reynolds
So can he hear the thoughts of everyone?
Katie Dickens
Well, yes. So he can hear the thoughts of everyone, but if his anxiety is high, he cannot. It's like the anxiety literally cuts off parts of their brain. So it's a receiver issue. Just like with a good radio signal, you have to remove all interference. Anxiety is interference, so it prevents him from hearing. In those types of environments, people's negativity and hatefulness have a huge impact on his ability to hear. Crowds are very difficult, as you can imagine, because he's hearing everybody. That's hard. You're hearing a thought, but you don't know who's responsible for the thought. I've seen him several times, literally, like we'd be at the gym and he would run into like a certain room and look around trying to figure out who had that thought.
Ryan Reynolds
I was eager to talk to Houston's brother about all of this. Houston's brother is a Marine, and he had a tricky relationship with Houston growing up. Houston demanded a lot of his mom, and she was stretched thin as it was. And Houston's brother did not believe he was smart and certainly did not believe Houston could read minds. And though he was a little reticent to participate, I was able to get him to answer a few questions.
Katie Dickens
What really got me off guard was.
Ryan Reynolds
That he's actually in there. And then what about the telepathy? When you first heard about that, did you believe it? Not at all. I did not believe that he was.
Katie Dickens
Telepathic in any sort of way.
Ryan Reynolds
It was just a very hard thing.
Katie Dickens
To convince me of.
Ryan Reynolds
Do. Do you even believe it now that he can read minds? I have seen it with my own.
Katie Dickens
Eyes and it's just. It kind of changed my mind a little bit.
Ryan Reynolds
But I like how comfortable are you with this reality? Do you talk to your friends about it, like from the Marines or from school? And if yes and they don't believe you, then how do you react? What do you say?
Katie Dickens
I would ultimately just have them see it in person.
Ryan Reynolds
I'll bring Houston up to them and.
Katie Dickens
Just tell him, hey, think of one little thing. And he writes it out on the board.
Ryan Reynolds
So he's read your friends minds. He has read my friends minds before. I've seen it firsthand. It's just incredible to see this kind of stuff. Which brings me back to the telepathy tests. The tests feel so important for the families, for the non speakers, because it's a way for them to prove what they're saying is true. We had the benefit of having Dr. Powell with us in Georgia, so our tests were a little bit more formal. And Houston was okay with the lights around with multiple cameras, he felt very, very comfortable. That said, I asked most of the crew who didn't need to be in the room to please leave. Because if Houston could read almost anyone's thoughts, having a bunch of people in the room could really taint the tests. Apparently the production assistant on the shoot, Sam, was pretty bummed out that we asked him to leave the room. He really wanted to see telepathy in person. But don't worry about Sam. We'll come back to him in just a bit. All right, so anyone who doesn't need to be in the room, like I said, please exit. We're gonna roll all cameras and get ready to go here. Okay, so Diane, I just downloaded a new number generator on my phone, so let's go ahead and use that. Okay, Here you go. I think it's critical that Dr. Diane isn't bringing her own cues. That way there could be no collusion between her and the families, which again I want to state, I don't think that would ever happen. I have assessed Dr. Diane's integrity around these tests and it is unwavering and upright. So for the first test, Dr. Diane generates a number.
Katie Dickens
Okay, say action.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay, action. Go ahead and generate. Our main camera's vantage point is over Diane's shoulder, so we can see Diane and we can see the number that's been pulled up onto the phone. Katie and Houston are sitting across from her. And then once the number pulls up, Dr. Diane leans over to show Katie the number. Houston is not looking anywhere in particular. Sometimes he's looking at the table, sometimes at the wall, sometimes at the ceiling, sometimes at his feet. And sometimes straight ahead. And the number is 2, 2, 2, 0. Okay, and go ahead and look, Katie. After seeing the cue, Katie holds up the black letter board. And Houston uses a pencil to point to the numbers. And he points quickly to the correct number. 2, 2, 2, 0.
Katie Dickens
Perfect. Okay.
Ryan Reynolds
Dr. Diane generates another number.
Katie Dickens
Okay, ready?
Ryan Reynolds
Yeah. A three digit number pops up. And she doesn't like that. Because collectively, I think we all agree it's just too easy.
Katie Dickens
You know, I want to generate a different number. Okay, there we go.
Ryan Reynolds
The new number is 5096. As Dr. Diane pulls up the number and shows Katie, Houston is tracing his letter board, which is on the table. There's no way he could see the cue. That's a 5 and 0. 9 and 6.
Katie Dickens
Perfect.
Ryan Reynolds
It's always so cool. It never gets old.
Katie Dickens
It never does.
Ryan Reynolds
It never gets old. It's just unbeatable. I love this moment because even Katie is laughing and saying, it never gets old. It just never gets old. We took a break, and something amazing happened to Sam, the production assistant, who was bummed out when we asked everyone to leave the room. So while getting coffee, Sam expressed to Katie that he wished he could have seen Houston Reed Mines. I was told this story after the shoot. So I called Sam very long distance to hear it firsthand. All right, so my name's Sam Green.
Katie Dickens
Coming into the house for the first time, I didn't really know what to expect.
Ryan Reynolds
I had a job to do, but I want to believe it.
Katie Dickens
I vocalized that to Katie.
Ryan Reynolds
But watching it and have it happen to you is two different things. Katie had told me to. To write a word down. I stepped into the garage, away from.
Katie Dickens
Houston and Katie, who were in the living space.
Ryan Reynolds
I didn't have anyone around me. I. I wrote the word friend on a piece of paper and I walked straight back in. The whole thing took less than, you.
Katie Dickens
Know, 30 seconds for me leaving to.
Ryan Reynolds
Returning, and literally no one around me. I walked in and I looked at Houston in my head. I'm saying my word is friendly. And before I could even finish the.
Katie Dickens
Thought, Katie's there with the board, and Houston's already spelling out F, R, I.
Ryan Reynolds
E, N, D. And it was an unbelievable experience, but I was part of it. I felt it, I witnessed it. This interaction was very genuine, and what we were filming was groundbreaking. Before we sat down to do more tests, I asked Katie how she felt, realizing that Houston had access to her private thoughts. Ever since childhood, I had the horrifying.
Katie Dickens
Realization that he had heard all of my thoughts where I hated autism, all of my thoughts where I was so angry, where I wanted to give up.
Ryan Reynolds
But the most heartbreaking thing that Houston had to hold was were the sinister thoughts and crimes of others.
Katie Dickens
My ex husband was an incredibly violent, abusive, and intentionally cruel man. Houston had to hear his schemes and his plans. The abuse wasn't limited to just me.
Ryan Reynolds
Katie's ex committed horrible crimes against another member of the family, Katie didn't know about the horrific acts as they were occurring. Only Houston did, because he could hear everyone's thoughts. And it wasn't until Houston learned to communicate via spelling that Katie finally found out what had happened.
Katie Dickens
He said one of the hardest things was knowing all of this and not being able to stop it or tell. He'd always wanted to be a hero, and because of his inability to control his body or communicate, he had not been able to tell us the truth or be the biggest brother he always wanted to be. The fact that he could still love and be so kind humbled me.
Ryan Reynolds
After the break, we continued to do many more number generator tests, and Houston is correct every single time. And he's so quick. The second he sees the number, it's like rapid fire. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And then I wanted to do something different that we haven't done before. Okay, so I'm pulling out this UNO deck. This is something I brought from home. Because Houston is minimally verbal, I thought it'd be cool if we pulled a random card from an uno deck. And after his mom saw which number was on the card, Houston would vocalize it. If you're new to uno, the card deck is comprised of 76 different number cards in various colors, each with a single number on it. So there are yellow cards one through nine, red cards one through nine, etc. There's also wild cards and skip turn cards and plus two cards. And I went through the deck to remove any of the cards that didn't just have a whole number on the front. Okay, I think we're ready. So, Dr. Powell, can you just walk us through this?
Katie Dickens
All right, this is just a random UNO deck. I'd like to see if we can have him do both the number and the color. Sure thing.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay. Awesome. Okay, maybe shuffle again, Dr. Powell, please.
Katie Dickens
Yeah, I did shuffle it again, but I'll do this again. All right, ready?
Ryan Reynolds
Ready. Dr. Diane Powell is standing directly behind Houston, and the card she selected from the deck was six blue. Katie turns her head slightly to the left to see it, and there's no way that Houston can see the card 6. There are two different boards in play here, one with letters on them and ones with numbers. So after Houston pointed directly to the six, now Katie's picking up the letter boards so he can spell the color.
Katie Dickens
U, E, six blue. He's doing amazing. He really is. After I tested him online, I was like, this guy. We've got to come here, because I.
Ryan Reynolds
Knew it would be great. Now we Set up for another uno test. You ready? She pulls a plus two from the uno deck. I gasp because I thought I pulled all of those out. Oh, okay.
Katie Dickens
Plus two.
Ryan Reynolds
That's amazing.
Katie Dickens
So he got the plus.
Ryan Reynolds
I was wondering, because I was looking at the two the whole time, and I saw his hand going somewhere else. And that's Michael the camera guy. He was anticipating that Houston would be going right to the two. So that's what he was focused on. It was nice in the frame, and he was shocked that his hand first went somewhere else. Up to the plus.
Katie Dickens
Yeah, he went up to the plus.
Ryan Reynolds
We did a ton of uno tests, and he was correct every single time. I never know how many to put into the episodes because I don't want to bore people with a bunch of repetitive, accurate tests. But they are up on the website, the telepathytapes.com if you want to see the visual tests yourself. Let's do one more just because now I'm getting greedy. Okay. Wait, can we do this? Oh, sure. Yeah.
Katie Dickens
Yeah. Let's do rap. I like the rapids.
Ryan Reynolds
All right. This is, you know, the grand finale in fireworks shows. Yeah, exactly.
Katie Dickens
You got this.
Ryan Reynolds
Dr. Diane is going to pick a card and then another card and another card and another card, and Houston's going to point to the number of the card that was pulled over and over and over again. Dr. Diane is still standing behind Houston, so there's absolutely no universe in which she can see the cue. And Katie just has to look slightly to the left to see it. Okay, we ready?
Katie Dickens
Just. Just the number. Okay. You don't. Don't worry about color. Okay, go ahead.
Ryan Reynolds
Two.
Katie Dickens
Two. Two.
Ryan Reynolds
Good.
Katie Dickens
Four. Four. One. One.
Ryan Reynolds
Diana's standing about two to three feet behind Houston, and every single card she flips over, he points to the correct number as he verbalizes it.
Katie Dickens
9. 7. 3.
Ryan Reynolds
The rapid fire test was jaw dropping, and I think he could have kept going for hours if we wanted him to. His patience with us was unbelievable. And when I asked him about this later, he said it was so important for him to show the world what he could do. After we did the number tests, we did some book tests. I would hand a book to Dr. Diane Powell. She opens to a random page and then shows Katie the word or the phrase. We wanted to test if Houston's telepathy could go beyond numbers. Could he accurately decipher what his mom was reading in a book? Instead of having me go through this test, I wanted to call someone else who was in the room. In other episodes, you've Heard from Michael, my camera guy, who's been with me on every shoot. And on this shoot, we had another camera operator in the room, and I thought it'd be nice if she walked you through these tests from her perspective. So my name is Shay Jones, and I was the local producer to handle the Georgia shoots. Portions of this, even in the prepping stage and the planning stage, like, you hear the word telepathy, it's so hard to believe. Right. Okay, so can you explain where you were in the room and what you saw while we were doing the book tests, where I was with my camera, I was in the front left looking at Houston. And I was able to go behind Houston and see that there was no possible way for him to see what his mom was reading. And we started it small, right? So we started it with just a single word. We never spoke out loud. What word?
Katie Dickens
What book?
Ryan Reynolds
Where we were getting it from. So we would come in from behind, give it to the mom, and she read a word just in her head, not out loud. And the moment she starts even looking down at it, Houston has the pencil and he's going through the letterboard. And it was spot on every single time. You not only get to watch it, get to watch, you know, Kai, with you, how you approached it and made sure that we're doing this in every way to see if this is really happening in real time. You know, changing the different books, making sure that Houston wasn't able to see whatsoever what his mom was reading in her mind, and to see not only in real time, that it worked. It never didn't work. And then we slowly but surely were like, okay, well, what if we made it longer? When we decided to make the tests longer, I also wanted to make them more difficult. I looked around the room, and I saw Katie's old English version of the Bible. So I grabbed that. What if it was a longer sentence and you would flip Kai to, like, a random page on the Bible, and we. You would highlight a sentence, and those are hard words. And as soon as she starts reading it in her head, there he is again with the letterboard, getting it perfectly right, grammar wise, spelling. No one had to decipher it. No one had to be like, oh, did he mean that he was spot on every single time? To be a part of those tests was. I mean, it was life changing. It really was. After all the testing, Houston took a much needed break to relax, which gave Katie and I plenty of time to go through some of my questions. Okay, Katie, so can you tell me more about this Talk on the Hill and how you found out about it.
Katie Dickens
He calls it the Talk on the Hill. And it's where other non speakers collaborate. Think of it like a CB radio. They all get on the same channel, so they have these essentially group conversations where they all contribute. And he said it works both ways. They teach each other, they share information, they give hope to those who are being discouraged, they pray for each other. And yes, it is telepathic. That might seem extraordinary, but if you realize that like phones and computers, we don't have to be in the same room or zip code and that's because it's electromagnetic energy.
Ryan Reynolds
And then Katie told a story which I was happy to hear because it validates some of the claims about the Hill.
Katie Dickens
I got a message from a mom in Utah whom I have never met. Her son spelled out to her, mom, Houston is my best friend. Her nine year old son, whom we've never met, spelled that out. And she was like, how? You know, it's because they're communicating. That didn't make sense to me until I did some more research. And thought is energy and it behaves just like energy. It behaves actually very similarly to a radio wave. And essentially their brains work like Verizon cell towers, absorbing, transmitting and receiving information.
Ryan Reynolds
Or Lucille Ball's teeth picking up a radio show with perfect clarity. Katie ends up becoming one of my most cherished and essential guides in this world. Sending articles, recommending books, connecting me to other parents ideas and thoughts. And you'll hear from her regularly on this podcast. And one thing that she hammered into my head is the power of thoughts. That they are not just inconsequential, private, isolated bubbles in our own minds. And here's a snippet from a phone call that Katie and I just had recently where she walks me through the idea of thoughts as things.
Katie Dickens
So name something that's on in front of you on your desk.
Ryan Reynolds
Okay. A fork.
Katie Dickens
A fork. Okay. What was that fork before it was a fork?
Ryan Reynolds
Gosh, I mean, I don't. Stainless steel.
Katie Dickens
Well, it was a thought. If no one had ever thought of a fork, would it exist?
Ryan Reynolds
No, no, no.
Katie Dickens
And that's when I realized that thoughts become things. Everything was a thought before it became a thing.
Ryan Reynolds
After I got to know Katie and witness her intelligence and curiosity, I told her she could have been anything, anything in the world. A successful lawyer or consequential physicist, a best selling author, a life changing professor. Literally anything in the world. Her mind and her ferocity and her intelligence are just so sharp and special, and she responded to this comment by gracefully noting that her most important work, however, is taking care of Houston. By the end of our first two days in Georgia, we had conducted dozens more telepathy tests, each more conclusive than the last. We conducted QEEG tests with the hyperscanner, which provided some fascinating data, which we will analyze in depth in a Future episode with Dr. Tarrant. The crew witnessed Houston reading minds like parlor tricks, and the proverbial Hill loomed larger in my understanding, a mysterious connection that I could no longer dismiss. Yet for the sake of these remarkable spellers and their families, I needed more than belief. I needed proof. If they are truly tapping into a telepathic chat room, then our understanding of humanity, our profound interconnectedness, and our untapped potential could be on the brink of a seismic shift. In the next episode, we remain in Georgia, where we'll meet Houston's good friend John Paul and his mother, Libby. If the Hill is a real thing, John Paul should know about it too. But what he ends up teaching us about interconnectedness is beyond anything I could have ever imagined. A very special thanks to my incredible collaborator and producer Jen Mirza, who created all music and sound effects for this episode of the Telepathy Tapes. Remember that you can review some of the tests and see some of the film recordings on our website thetelepathytapes.com thank you so much for tuning in and join us next week as this world expands and deepens. This just in. Hot off the bench press, Planet Fitness has added new strength equipment. Save $28 or more when you join today and you can be one of the first to try it out. We're raising the bar with new benches and our new Hack squat will have you actually looking forward to leg day. Plus we're still repping all of the best in class equipment we've always had with most clubs open 24 hours so you can work out your way on your time. So let's do this. Join Planet Fitness today and save $28 or more. Just $1 down $15 a month. Cancel anytime deal end January 10th. See Home Club for details.
Katie Dickens
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Episode 3: Telepathic Communication Between Friends and Groups
Release Date: September 23, 2024
Host: Ky Dickens
In the third episode of The Telepathy Tapes, host Ky Dickens delves deep into the intriguing world of telepathic communication among non-speaking individuals with autism. This episode explores the profound connections that transcend traditional verbal interactions, presenting compelling evidence and personal stories that challenge our understanding of communication and the human mind.
The episode centers around Katie Dickens and her son, Houston, who is non-verbal and diagnosed with severe autism. Katie shares her harrowing experiences as a single mother escaping an abusive marriage, grappling with societal isolation, and watching her son seemingly drift away:
[09:59] Ryan Reynolds: "Katie lived through years of loneliness and turbulence and hopelessness. And though it's hard, I want to immerse you in it because it makes the reality that she's living today that much more magnificent."
Houston's transformation begins at 17 when he unexpectedly communicates with his mother for the first time:
[11:37] Katie Dickens: "Houston was 17 years old... he reached over and very intentionally tugged at the blanket... and he said, 'Mama.' And I was shocked because I had never, ever heard my son say my name."
[11:37] Katie Dickens: "I decided in that moment, I was going to believe in a miracle."
Ky recounts his research into telepathy, tracing its scientific exploration back to the 1880s and intertwining it with historical anecdotes, such as Lucille Ball's peculiar experiences with radio signals:
[03:33] Katie Dickens: "I heard music... I realized it was in my mouth and it was beating in my ears."
[03:48] Ryan Reynolds: "She had picked up a Morse code transmission from an underground Japanese station."
These accounts set the stage for understanding the mechanisms behind telepathic abilities, suggesting that the human brain might function similarly to radio receivers under specific conditions.
The core of the episode features rigorous telepathy tests conducted with Houston, alongside neuroscientist Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell and Dr. Jeff Tarrant, a QEEG specialist. These tests aim to provide concrete evidence of Houston's abilities:
[28:33] Katie Dickens: "Okay, say action."
[28:34] Ryan Reynolds: "Action. Go ahead and generate."
[29:17] Katie Dickens: "Perfect."
Multiple trials, including number generation and UNO card selections, consistently demonstrate Houston's uncanny ability to read his mother's thoughts without any physical cues. The precision and speed of his responses leave the production team in awe:
[35:06] Katie Dickens: "So he got the plus."
[35:07] Ryan Reynolds: "I was wondering, because I was looking at the two the whole time, and I saw his hand going somewhere else. So that's what he was focused on."
A significant revelation in the episode is the concept of the "Talk on the Hill," a telepathic channel where non-speaking individuals with autism communicate with each other. Houston describes it as:
[39:38] Katie Dickens: "He calls it the Talk on the Hill. And it's where other non speakers collaborate. Think of it like a CB radio... they have these essentially group conversations where they all contribute."
This collective telepathic network allows for shared learning, emotional support, and communal prayer, highlighting a profound level of interconnectedness among its members.
Katie's emotional narrative underscores the transformative power of telepathy in her life. From despair to hope, her journey illustrates the deep bond between her and Houston:
[21:07] Katie Dickens: "I began to find out that my son knew far beyond what they would teach in a classroom... he had never had any education at all, so I didn't understand how he could know so much."
The ability to communicate telepathically not only bridges the gap between mother and son but also unveils Houston's vast, untapped potential.
The episode emphasizes the need for further scientific investigation to understand the mechanisms behind telepathy. Utilizing hyperscanning techniques, researchers aim to record simultaneous brain activity to decipher the neural underpinnings of these abilities:
[08:54] Ryan Reynolds: "I've been talking with him about hyperscanning... Jeff's friend is able to build a hyperscanner that we can bring with to Atlanta."
These advancements promise to shed light on the neurological basis of telepathy, potentially revolutionizing our comprehension of human consciousness and connectivity.
As the episode concludes, Ky reflects on the groundbreaking evidence presented and the profound implications it holds for our understanding of communication and human potential. Looking ahead, viewers can anticipate further exploration into telepathic networks and their impact on interconnectedness in future episodes.
[42:12] Katie Dickens: "Everything was a thought before it became a thing."
[43:04] Ryan Reynolds: "If they are truly tapping into a telepathic chat room, then our understanding of humanity... could be on the brink of a seismic shift."
The Telepathy Tapes continues to challenge conventional perceptions, inviting listeners to contemplate a world where thoughts transcend words, and the extraordinary becomes an everyday reality.
Notable Quotes:
Katie Dickens [11:37]: "I decided in that moment, I was going to believe in a miracle."
Katie Dickens [39:38]: "He calls it the Talk on the Hill... they have these essentially group conversations where they all contribute."
Katie Dickens [42:12]: "Everything was a thought before it became a thing."
For a visual demonstration of the telepathy tests discussed, visit thetelepathytapes.com.