S2E19: Talk Tracks Season 2 Episode 8: A Non-Speaker and A Family Secret

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Telepathy Tapes – S2E19: Talk Tracks S2E8 – “A Non-Speaker and A Family Secret”

Podcast: The Telepathy Tapes
Host: Ky Dickens
Episode Title: Talk Tracks S2E8: A Non-Speaker and A Family Secret
Date: March 4, 2026

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Episode Overview

This gripping episode of The Telepathy Tapes delves into the story of Ethan, a 24-year-old non-speaking autistic man from Rockville, Maryland, who found his voice using a letterboard at age 18. Through spelling and typing, Ethan’s family discovered not only his poetic brilliance but also his extraordinary claims of telepathy, mediumship, and knowledge of past lives. Host Ky Dickens facilitates a candid conversation with Ethan’s mother Jennifer, father Joe, sisters Madeline and Ashley, and Ethan himself—exploring the seismic impact on family dynamics, faith, and personal understanding of consciousness and reality.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ethan’s Early Life & Discovery of Communication

• Early Challenges ([03:01])

  • Jennifer describes Ethan as “so flat and helpless” as a baby—very different from his twin and older siblings. Diagnosis of autism was delivered early, accompanied by limited hope for real connection.
  • The family chose homeschooling and extensive therapies (speech, occupational, music), but Ethan remained non-speaking through childhood and adolescence.

• Breakthrough at 18 ([03:55])

  • Ethan began spelling thoughts via letterboard at 18, drastically altering family dynamics.
  • “Once he started to talk, I felt horrible. You could see he was smarter than anybody right from the get go… He would just make jokes about commercials.” – Jennifer ([03:55])

2. The Unveiling of Ethan’s Inner World

• First Experiences with Communication ([05:26])

  • Madeline recalls the initial excitement and amazement as Ethan revealed deep insights into family relationships and personal memories.
  • “It was like an overnight click… We just, like, talked for hours and hours and hours.” – Madeline ([05:26])

• Ethan’s Poetry ([06:14])

  • Ethan’s poetic talent is unveiled through typing sessions. Madeline reads his poem, “I am a Tree” ([07:01]), demonstrating his profound inner world.
  • “I tower over humanity, stoic and strong on the outside, lonely and longing on the inside…” – Ethan’s poem ([07:01])

3. Extraordinary Abilities: Telepathy, Mediumship & the Family Secret

• Telepathy in Action ([08:39])

  • Ethan reveals direct knowledge of Madeline’s secret thoughts, including personal relationships and unspoken memories.
  • “You're thinking about this boy on Hinge, who you want to kiss…” – Madeline recounting Ethan’s uncanny insight ([09:18])

• Mediumship & Ancestors ([09:56], [10:22])

  • Ethan claims to communicate with deceased family members (great-grandmothers, Aunt Harriet) and describes visions of angels in dreams and waking life. Ethan provides specific names (including family members Madeline didn’t know).
  • Revelation of “Aunt Harriet” shocks the family, as Ethan had never heard of her but describes her in detail, confirming with Joe (father) who is deeply affected ([16:02], [17:20]).
  • “She called me by my nickname that no one really knew and exposed that… I was like, oh my god, that’s her.” – Joe ([17:40])

• The Family’s Struggle with Belief ([11:00], [13:07])

  • Family describes initial secrecy and fear of ridicule, and how “The Telepathy Tapes” podcast made them realize they weren’t alone.
  • “Honestly, the first two years, it felt like my whole family was in this secret club together.” – Madeline ([11:40])

4. Spiritual Planes: The “Hill” or “Plane”

• Ethan’s Descriptions of Otherworldly Experiences ([21:35])
  • Ethan discusses “the plane” (akin to the “hill” in previous episodes), where he can communicate telepathically with both the living and the dead. The family affirms how this commonality with other non-speakers was both comforting and transformative.
  • “It’s his voice without having a voice, if that makes sense.” – Ashley ([21:59])

5. Past Lives, Family Connections, and Repercussions

• Knowledge of Past Incarnations ([22:24])
  • Ethan claims to remember all his past lives, noting this is his first life with autism and as a medium, and believes it will be his last. Family dynamics including recurring presences across lifetimes are detailed.
  • “Ethan shared [Jack] had passed from a boat accident in his last life…” – Madeline ([23:48])

6. Near-Death Experience ([24:31])

• Ethan’s Anaphylactic Episode
  • After eating peanut butter (previously untried due to his twin’s allergy), Ethan suffered anaphylactic shock and nearly died. During the episode, he reports a deeply spiritual, out-of-body experience (“waiting space…couldn’t see beyond the gates…”), guided back by his deceased great-grandmother ([25:13]).
  • “My nanny Jean gave me the push to get up. I believe Jean is my guardian angel…Up there in heaven, the angels told me to embrace the letters they knew I could type.” – Ethan via Madeline ([26:14])

7. Ethan’s Guidance, Philosophy & Messages to Listeners

• Responses to Listener Questions ([28:57] and onward):
  1. Humanity’s Priorities:
     • “Be open minded. Put humanity first. Doing good gets you further than money…My life is important. It gives me purpose to give spiritual guidance…Love is religion enough. God can be polarizing. Compassion and real love is the way.” – Ethan ([28:57])
  2. Advice for Practitioners:
     • “Trust in your instincts. The answers are there. Listen to your mind…You will have no problem connecting once you trust that not all of your thoughts are yours.” – Ethan ([29:39])
  3. Non-human Intelligence:
     • “I truly believe there is intelligence that goes beyond the human race…The Hill is not a granted wonderland…Life is fragile. The fact that I will be dead longer than alive makes me get up every morning.” – Ethan ([30:24])
  4. Predictive Cognition:
     • “By seeing dead people, I can predict some future events…Every human…has a spirit guide. They are the compass that leads them to their placement in their unpredictable timeline.” – Ethan ([31:28])
  5. Accessing Psychic Abilities:
     • “Most people have intuition and dreams – start there…Meditation calms our bodies so we can hear what flows through us. Abilities are grown by building trust with the universe. A city of new faces exists beyond our mind’s barriers…Magic is a part of our world.” – Ethan ([33:35])
  6. Message to Listeners ([36:26], [36:39]):
     • “I'm happy, beyond happy. Just feeling grateful. Know this part of my life is great. Love this opportunity. My life not by accident, my life meant to share my gifts…People need hope. This life is not just making money. How precious our souls are…” – Ethan ([36:39])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It was like an overnight click…We just, like, talked for hours and hours and hours.”
  — Madeline ([05:26])

• “My life is metaphysical communication. Not a choice for me. My purpose, my goal is to help others with my gift. I hope I can bring peace to those who need it.”
  — Ethan ([35:35])

• “There was no question, like, of course…He just knew, she's gonna lose it, I'm gonna chill…He was mothering all of us.”
  — Jennifer ([12:31])

• “It really was Aunt Harriet that sealed the deal for me…When my wife showed me Ethan's typing and said, you know, I talked to spirits…Then he said, I think it was, and this nice lady named Harriet. And I was like, oh my. Because there's just no way—I've not spoken about this person.”
  — Joe ([16:34]-[17:26])

• “Magic is a part of our world. God doesn't care if you believe or not. He's there. Your past loved ones are too. My gift on earth is powerful. It is hard to live in my body. My mind is where I stay.”
  — Ethan ([35:35])

• “Know God is proud of you Kai. Please keep going. No big success is still pending. Just the start. Please keep fighting for my community.”
  — Ethan ([36:39])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:01] – Jennifer on Ethan’s early life and diagnosis
• [03:55] – Impact of communication through spelling
• [05:26] – First sessions with communication partner
• [06:14] – Poetry and artistic expression
• [07:01] – Reading of “I am a Tree”
• [08:39] – Onset of telepathic revelations
• [10:22] – Mediumship and the “angels” Ethan sees
• [11:40] – Family secret and impact of The Telepathy Tapes
• [16:02]-[17:26] – Aunt Harriet episode convinces skeptical father
• [21:35] – Explanation of “the plane” as akin to the hill
• [22:24] – Disclosures of past lives
• [24:31] – Near death and the guardian angel experience
• [28:57] – Listener Q&A with Ethan’s profound messages
• [35:35]-[36:39] – Ethan’s closing messages and gratitude

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Conclusion

In this intimate and eye-opening episode, The Telepathy Tapes offers a rare glimpse into the brilliance, challenges, and metaphysical experiences of Ethan and his family. Ethan’s journey from silence to profound communication reshapes not only how his family constructs reality but also expands the broader conversation on mind, consciousness, and the unexplored frontiers of human experience. Through poetry, telepathy, and messages of hope, Ethan’s story inspires curiosity, acceptance, and awe.

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For those who want to dive deeper, exclusive content and more Q&A with Ethan and other non-speakers are available via the show’s Backstage Pass.

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“Stay kind, stay curious, and remember that being a true skeptic requires an open mind.” — Ky Dickens ([37:51])

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

Hi everyone, I'm Kai Dickens and I'm thrilled to welcome you to the Talk tracks. In this series, we'll dive deeper into the revelations, challenges and unexpected truths from the telepathy tapes. The goal is to explore all the threads that weave together our understanding of reality, science, spirituality, and yes, even unexplained things like psi abilities. If you haven't yet listened to the telepathy tapes, I encourage you to start there. It lays the foundation for everything we'll be exploring in this journey will feature conversations with groundbreaking researchers, thinkers, non speakers and experiencers who illuminate the extraordinary connections that may defy explanation today, but won't for long. In today's episode we hear from an incredible family in Rockville, Maryland. Ethan is 24 years old and he was finally unlocked when he began spelling his thoughts on a letterboard at the age of 18. And like many families that you've heard on this podcast, so spelling his thoughts on a letterboard opened a door. That door led somewhere unexpected. Along with poetry and complex communication, Ethan began describing connections to ancestors, a spiritual plane similar to what others have called a hill, and experiences of telepathy within his family, a secret they kept locked away. They even joked that before they heard the stories of other families via the telepathy tapes, they thought they were alone and leading a double life because of it. In this episode, you'll hear from Ethan's parents and siblings about diagnosis, doubt, belief, and what changed when Ethan finally had a reliable way to communicate. But you'll also hear from Ethan himself. I should note the whole family was together recording this episode over zoom, which was so fun. And Ethan was often up and down and in and out. So you'll hear him in the background at times. First, his sister Madeline gave me a brief introduction to the family.

[C]

So right now we're in Rockville, Maryland, which is where my parents live with Ethan and Jack. We all grew up here and now kind of have gone our separate ways, but always come home. And I think Ethan's definitely what brings us all back together. Home.

[A]

Ethan's mother, Jennifer, describes what it was like with Ethan from the time he was born. So, Jennifer, when did you start to notice that Ethan might be different from other kids?

[D]

It was pretty obvious right away. First of all, you know, he was my third and fourth, so it was a twin. He was just so flat and helpless that I thought he was gonna, you know, die in his sleep. So I had one twin in the bedroom and one twin next to my bed. It's like, you just know something's not right. He never tried to eat.

[A]

Never.

[D]

It was an easy baby, but there was something flat. And then he was diagnosed pretty early on.

[A]

And for you, when you got the diagnosis, I mean, was it pretty hopeless or were you given any shred of hope that you'd have a connection with him someday or that he'd be in there?

[D]

It was pretty hopeless because right away they said, send them to school. Do aba. And I was like, I'm not comfortable. I didn't want to send my other kids to preschool. So they didn't. There's no options out there for you to do it on your own.

[A]

Ethan started spelling when he was 18 years old. How did that change you? Just to meet him for the first time?

[D]

I was shocked, and I felt terrible because I really treated him sort of like my baby. Took him to speech therapy. I took him to ot. I tried to, of course, get him to talk, but when it didn't happen, I was like, I'm okay with this. He's my baby and he's with me. And everyone, you know, acts like, oh, we knew he was so smart. We didn't really know he was so smart. I knew that, you know, he was logical. He wasn't gonna maybe walk into traffic. But once he started to talk, felt horrible. You could see he was smarter than anybody right from the get go. I mean, he would just make jokes about commercials on tv. I'm like, how are you making the. A pun about a commercial? How he would write these poems and there'd be a Greek God. I mean, and he didn't really go to school. He was homeschooled. Everyone's like, oh, you were such A good teacher. I wasn't. We watched tv, we watched baby tapes. You know, we sang together. We went to the park all day. Cause that's what he did. We went to the pool all day.

[A]

For many non speakers, the school system is not a viable option for Ethan. He was unable to sit still at all. His mom worked with him and tried to meet him where he was at. He spent many days walking or running at parks, swinging endlessly or swimming. All of that movement was necessary for him to feel regulated enough to attend therapy sessions in speech or occupational therapy or music therapy, and eventually rpm, which helped him form the motor pathways to spell out his thoughts on a letterboard. Once Ethan started spelling, his family finally started getting to know him in a very different way. Here's his sister Madeline, on her early experiences with his typing.

[C]

So when he started typing, I was obviously really excited. And I would get, like, really short messages from him and his communication partner at school. Like, I would wait at the computer and be like, oh, my gosh, what is he gonna say? It felt like an overnight click of we were able to type together. I went to one session and observed his communication partner, and she kind of walked me through how to assist him, how to hold the iPad. And then it was like, boom, we figured it out. It was like all of his observations of our family, all of the, like, interpersonal relationships he has with all of us, family drama, funny stories, like, everything from our past he was able to kind of tap into. And we just, like, talked for hours and hours and hours.

[A]

When Ethan started spelling to communicate by pointing to letters on a letterboard, he revealed a love for poetry.

[C]

Writing his poetry was super exciting for me because in my knowledge, I was the only artist in the family. I was like, I always knew you're my favorite person, but you're this amazing poet. And we can sit and talk about art and how we create. I always loved Ethan so much, but then to, like, crack open this whole other side of him was just incredible. To see how amazing he truly is.

[A]

Yeah, that is so incredible. Do you have a favorite poem that he's written that you want to share?

[C]

Yeah, I think my favorite poem of his is I am a Tree. This one is one of the first ones. I assisted typing and just. I just felt such, like, pride and amazement as I was just watching him type one letter at a time. This, like, amazing poem with very little edits.

[A]

Here's Madeline reading the poem.

[C]

This is I am a tree. I tower over humanity, Stoic and strong on the outside, lonely and longing. On the inside, I know laughs from cries. I know your friends and soulmates. I live for your gossip and gawk in the face of your enemies. I have wisdom behind my bark. Know the air you breathe comes from my love for you. Providing is a thankless job. My life provided air to your ancestors. I watched them grow. I've been standing on this earth since before your first breath. I have eyes and ears that live through many more decades than you have existed. My heart breaks for those who can't see my domination over our ecosystem. They only pay attention to me. If my leaves change color too early, if the buds of my flowers forget to bloom. Look beyond the limbs peeling and broken saplings. Look beyond the hungry parasites that invade me. There is love in God's design. My roots are dug so deep into the earth. My creation was not a mistake. Love is in the veins of being from heaven and earth. While you are here, be kind to the trees.

[A]

I love that. Wow.

[C]

I love it, too. It's also. He's super tall. Ethan's like 6 4. So we always kind of joke that he towers over us. So I love the parallels of, like, him being so tall and comparing the trees of just towering over everyone with the wisdom that they have. I love it.

[A]

Were you shocked that there was this poet in there?

[C]

It was overwhelming.

[A]

Ethan's typing skills took off around 2020, and then he slowly began revealing to the family his telepathic ability and so much more.

[C]

He kind of waited to introduce the telepathy, like, part to me, bringing up kind of things that happened in my life that I haven't told people, Even things of, like, being bullied in middle school. He's like, oh, I can give you insight on that. I can give you insight about this thing that happened in college, about my performances, my head. I studied music. So, like, my head spaces and performance and how I would get nervous, like, all of these things. One time I sat down, he could tell I was thinking, like, can he read my mind? Like, how am I ever going to tell people if he can? Because this is a little bit crazy. And so I was having these, like, almost doubts and thoughts. He sat next to me. He was like, you're thinking of eating this for lunch. You're thinking about this story from the past. He goes, and you're thinking about this boy on hinge, who you are, you want to kiss. And I was like. I was like, ethan. I was like, how do you know that he's like a part of life? You went on a date. I. I know this and he told me details of, like, someone's profile.

[A]

Did he tell you how he knew it? Like, if he could see through your eyes or just click into your mind, like, how did he say he knew the profile, the hinge profile.

[C]

He just had a description. And it was almost like he did see it through my eyes just because of how. Just clear. It was so, like, simple, to the point.

[A]

But his abilities didn't end with telepathy.

[C]

I happen to be really into dreams. I think they're super fascinating. And something I would do every morning is I would wake up and I would just, as a conversation starter, be like, hey, Ethan, what did you dream about? And we would type about his dreams. And then he mentioned, you know, I see angels in my dreams. And he said, my angels. And he named three names, and I didn't know one of them. And I was like, huh?

[A]

What were their names?

[C]

My great grandma, Nanny Jean. My great grandma, Nanny Burt. And then he said, aunt Harriet. And I was like, who's Harriet? That's weird. And so I was like, mom, who's Harriet? And my mom's jaw literally dropped. She was like, oh, my goodness. Like, that's my other grandma's sister who passed when I was really young. And I just didn't hear that name a bunch. I was like, do you see these angels when you're awake, too? And he was like, yes, I do. I was waiting for you to ask. And it kind of even went a step further that he was kind of more and more shared how intertwined we've been.

[A]

And was everyone believing him or were you? I mean, like, I think belief in a family can take a while. And I've watched this with many families. You know, sometimes there's like, a holdout. Like, how did it go for all of you? Like, around the mediumship, the telepathy, even the competence, just believing that he was writing those words?

[C]

Totally. I think the typing. Everyone believed all along. Everyone was on board. He shared with me first the medium stuff. And the telepathy stuff, you know, delved into psychics myself, so it made sense that he told me first.

[A]

So when the telepathy tapes came out, like, did that embolden you to talk more about it? Or, like, how did that affect your family's psyche? I mean, that's gotta be so strange to be like, I'm alone, and then be like, whoa, this is a major. This is bigger than I thought.

[C]

Yeah. So I thought it was really difficult at first. I was like, I feel like I'm living with this major Secret, like living a double life, and we're really afraid to share with other people. There are so many people with kids with autism who doubted just the typing period. So it was really scary to. First of all, like, it stings when people have those doubts, but then when you're getting these amazing poems and messages, we were so scared to share because, like, you didn't want anyone to, like, jab at this amazing experience we were having. Honestly, like, the first two years, it felt like my whole family was in this secret club together. So it's really amazing that the telepathy tapes came out when it did.

[A]

I was curious what Ethan's parents had to say about all of this. Here's Ethan's mom, Jennifer, again. How has all of this changed you?

[D]

This is all very new to me, but I wasn't as shocked as my husband, like, the minute he said it.

[E]

The.

[D]

There was no question, like, of course. And there were always weird things. I mean, having a child with Autumn was really hard. But there was something about Ethan that he would get it. Like, sometimes I had four kids. I would be overwhelmed. He just knew, she's gonna lose it. I'm gonna chill. And I'd be like, how does he know that? The other three don't, Right? The other three would be nasty. And I'd have to get in the car and pick somebody up, and Ethan would just get himself up and get in the car. So it's like, it was almost like, you know, he was mothering all of us. Like, he knew.

[A]

Here's Madeline again.

[C]

My mom was on board, and then the next person we talked to was my dad. My mom was like, oh, my God, this is going to cause a divorce if he doesn't believe this, if he thinks I'm crazy.

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[B]

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[C]

So my dad came home from work and the way we convinced him was Ethan was like, dad, listen, your Aunt Harriet's here. She has blonde hair and blue eyeshadow and she talks to me and my dad just starts crying and he's like, what? And my dad is one of those people who's, you know, I would say very Earth based, science based, logical dad. So I was so relieved and happy that he kind of could use this amazing example to instantly hook dad because Ethan never met Harriet.

[A]

Here's Ethan's dad, Joe.

[B]

It really was Aunt Harriet that sealed the deal for me. I was very close to her. It's my mom's sister and she was like the fun aunt. And I always wished that the kids had met her and spent more time with her. And it was just wasn't in the card. She died when she was like 70, but she was like a very close confidant. And then when my wife showed me Ethan's typing and said, you know, I talked to spirits and I talked to Nanny Jean, I'm like, okay, that's whatever. I, I, I wasn't believing at that point. And I talked to Nanny Burt and that's my father in law's mother, so his great grandmother. And then he said, I think it was, and this nice lady named Harriet. And I was like, oh my. Because there's just no way I, I've not spoken about this person.

[A]

And he'd never seen a picture of her.

[B]

Never.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

Never.

[A]

And he described her to a T.

[B]

And in a way, the way, like with mediumship, in the way that he talked about her or when she was quote unquote visiting with us, her personality just came out.

[A]

Was it words that she said or like expressions she used?

[B]

The words she said to me because I was doubting. She called me by my nickname that no one really knew and, and exposed that which was chp. And then I, I, I forget what I was saying. I was like, come on, this is just, you know, I can't believe this. And she goes, please stop because I'm talking to you from the dead. Exact words. Okay. And, and I was like, oh, my God, that's, that's just, that's her.

[A]

Wow, what a gift.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Madeline tells us another story that helped convince her dad of Ethan's mediumship abilities.

[C]

Then another example was our Uncle Arnold, who passed. He recalled fishing stories that him and my dad shared that no one would know.

[A]

What would be an example of one of those fishing stories you spilled?

[C]

Oh, gosh, like, you know, someone got seasick and someone threw up off the boat. Someone did number two, off the boat. Like funny things that, I mean, only people who were there would recall. You don't come home and say, hey, I threw up off the boat. But Ethan's laughing, saying, you know, Uncle Arnold told me, you know, you almost had an accident on the boat.

[A]

This shocked Ethan's dad, Joe. Here he is recalling the fishing trips in question.

[B]

It would be my father in law, Arnold, a friend of my father in law's and my brother in law. And it was just men being, you know, jerks out in the middle of the ocean. We would drive 50 miles out to sea to try to catch big Fish and we were terrible fishermen and it was just, we were just making fun of each other the whole time. So Arnold would bring up these stories about I always got seasick, be getting sick or, you know, my father in law not knowing how to operate the boat or going through a storm. And it was impossible for Ethan to know all this stuff because he wasn't, he wasn't there.

[A]

How did that change you or your view of the other side, the afterlife?

[B]

Honestly, I'm still very, very confused by it and I struggle with it. But I'm much more accepting and much more open to the aspect that there's more than one life and that beings, you know, have energy and energy doesn't go away, it just transfers.

[A]

Did you grow up underneath any religion or faith, philosophy or. Pretty agnostic.

[B]

Pretty agnostic, I would say. I am not a religious person. I was forced to go to Hebrew school, but I was pretty cut and dry and pretty black and white. I didn't think there was a God. And I figured when you died, you died and you were sleeping forever and that was it.

[A]

That's gotta be just unbelievably like mind altering to start hearing this stuff. Was it telepathy? Like, was that just like, what the heck? Or did you have inklings of that? Was that harder to believe compared to everything else?

[B]

The telepathy was easy to believe in. First off, his typing to me was just amazing in the sense that we never knew he could read. And when he went to type he just started typing. And to me that was like the big kind of okay, this is for real. Because I never knew he could read. And he's writing and his vocabulary was that of a 50 year old someone who has lived, like, like really lived. And, and the way he used his words and the way he delivered his poems. You know, he wrote a poem about my wife. Was it called you are my angel?

[C]

My mother is an angel.

[B]

My mother is an angel.

[A]

Ethan's poem My mother is an angel can be heard on our backstage pass.

[B]

But I've got to tell you, this has been. The last six years have been just. I'm a lucky guy. There's times I still don't believe it, but then Ethan has a really neat way of just bringing me back. Not down to earth, but up to, up to beyond.

[A]

I was curious if Ethan had ever brought up going to the hill. Has he ever brought up the hill? When you guys heard about that in the telepathy tapes, what did you think about that? Here's Ashley.

[E]

He's always Called it the plane, but it's the same concept as the hill, where basically he can communicate with people who are both dead and alive. Some of, like, people who are spiritual, who he knows he can communicate with on the hill. But I think it's our dead ancestor is who he communicates with.

[A]

When did he first talk to you about the plane? Like, was this part of your family's secret before you realized there's others out there?

[E]

Yeah, he kind of brought that up as soon as he told us he was a medium, that this was this place he went to and he could communicate with people telepathically and that it was his voice without having a voice, if that makes sense.

[A]

It's so remarkable.

[C]

So he.

[A]

And he said that other non speakers were there. Yeah, it does sound like it's the hill.

[E]

The way Ethan describes it is very similar. And it is. A lot of it is based on, like, love and appreciation and acceptance.

[A]

The family has also revealed Ethan has expressed having extensive knowledge about his past lives. Here's Ethan's mom.

[D]

He remembers all his past lives. Oh, Zoe says this life to be special because he says this is his last one. And this is his hardest life. This is his first life with autism. This is his first life as a medium, and he needs to make it special. And he feels bad what he stole from our family. We didn't really go on vacation. We didn't go to restaurants. We stayed home.

[A]

When did he start bringing up past lives and how was that for you to, like, handle?

[D]

He doesn't bring it up so much now because there's so much other stuff, but it's just. It's unbelievable. And he knows our past lives, too.

[A]

Wow. Does he say if you all were together in each life?

[D]

He was always with Madeline, myself, and Jack, the twin, but they were never twins. But they were always together, and he was never autistic, like I said. This is all sounds crazy to say,

[A]

but, yeah, it is interesting because it comes up a lot from a lot of non speakers.

[D]

Some of it's scary, but he knows how people passed. He knows how he passed in his last life. He knows how his brother passed and some of the ways that we have passed. It shows the things that we're anxious about. Now.

[A]

Give me an example that's fascinating. Here's Madeline again.

[C]

Our younger brother Jack has been afraid of the water and boats, like, forever. We would go on a boat as a family, and Jack would be like, nope, I'm staying home, guys. You have fun. We could not get him to go on A boat. And Ethan shared that he'd passed from a boat accident in his last life, that he was like a sailor and it happened in a harbor and he was working on a big ship and that he tragically died. Another weird thing is he says sometimes in his dreams he goes and he visits his last family before us like his soul does, which is so fascinating.

[A]

In the family's initial email to our team, they mentioned that Ethan had a near death experience that affected him in a profound way. I asked if they'd share that story. Here's Ethan's older sister, Ashley, starting it off.

[E]

So the story started, kind of started with me and then ended more with my mom and Madeline. But the first time I went to typing school with Ethan, I was asking him what flavor cake he wanted to make for my grandma's birthday, and he wrote peanut butter. So for some context, Ethan's twin Jack has a very severe peanut allergy. And we grew up in a completely peanut free household. So Ethan has never consumed a peanut in his life. So I was like, ethan, like, I feel you, you should try peanuts. And I even confirmed with my mom that he had gotten allergy testing with Jack when they were babies and he wasn't allergic. Then I'll pass the mic on to Madeline because the rest of the story's hers.

[C]

So I was with my mom and Ethan was getting a haircut. And I think it's pretty universal. People with autism don't enjoy getting haircuts. And this was like a particularly rough one. My mom was like, madeline, go walk over to Harris Teeter and get him a treat. And I was like, I have the perfect treat. Let me give him some peanut Butter M&MS. Cause he's been wanting to try them, which was my mistake. So I got the peanut butter M and Ms. And I walked back over to the hair salon and I gave Ethan one, and he loved it. So he ate the whole bag very fast. We thought everything was fine. We left, and my mom, Ethan and I walk to the car and Ethan kind of starts coughing, but we don't really feel that alerted. And then once we get into the car, we notice something seriously wrong. Like, his face is bright red, he has shortness of breath. And I remember, like, me and my mom locking eyes in the rearview mirror and being like, we need to go to the hospital right now. This is bad. This is serious. And Ethan, like, curled up and laid in my lap and was staring at me like he could not breathe. So we roll up to the er. Ethan runs right in. He ends up, just like collapsing on the floor. Because at that point he was going in and out because he couldn't breathe. He got an EpiPen and luckily, like, by the grace of something, everything was fine. But he was so close to death. It was such a close call. Thank God that he made it out and that he recovered. And we got to go home that night. And then once he really started typing at home, he said when he was going through anaphylactic shock, I was in a waiting space. It was beautiful. I couldn't see beyond the gates, but I could see mom and Maddie. I could hear you all. My nanny Jean, gave me the push to get up. I believe Jean is my guardian angel. I know she was chosen for me. She said, get up. So I did. Classic me, running into the hospital. I'm known to take off running at odd times. Up there in heaven, the angels told me to embrace the letters they knew I could type. We talked about my ability to communicate with the dead. I saw heaven and I came back twice. I never take a day for granted. I always thank God for each day. I feel more vulnerable after this experience. Things are going to get better. And they did.

[A]

And the nanny, he was saying, was saying, get up. She's a living nanny. Or was she on the side?

[C]

She's passed. She's my great grandmother.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Because he was collapsed in the car. He was laying on my lap, and we rolled up and Ethan literally bolted inside and then laid down on the ground in the er.

[A]

So he was saying that your grandmother who's passed away was saying to him in the car, get up. Like, get up. And that made him get up and run into the hospital.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow, what a story. Does he talk about the future? Like, what are some of the things he wants to do? Or does he have any dreams or hopes? Here's Ashley.

[E]

Yeah, we're currently working on writing a book. So that's something he wants to do. And mostly he, I think, just wants to educate people on his experience being a non speaker, being autistic, telepathy. I think he just wants to normalize it and help people understand what his life is like and what others lives are like.

[A]

Thanks to all of our listeners who sent in questions to non speakers via our backstage pass. We sent some of those listener questions in advance to Ethan. And I just want to remind listeners that we will be collecting all the questions you submit over our backstage pass and continually asking those to all the non speakers that we'll be interviewing over the next few months. Now, I know he wrote all these amazing answers to some of the questions. Who wants to read those? Or do you want to take a turn reading the questions and answers?

[C]

He said he wants me and Ashley to read his answers. Okay, the first question is, what are the top three things you want humanity to understand and do in these times based on your elevated perspective? Ethan's response was be open minded. Put humanity first. Doing good gets you further than money and greedy. Life is short compared to heaven. Hoping humans will act better. Knowing this, I love how love intertwines every thought. I love my abilities so I can be a part of my family's life. Regardless of my physical presence, my life is important. It gives me purpose to give spiritual guidance to my family and friends. God helps if you let him. Love is religion enough. God can be polarizing. Compassion and real love is the way.

[E]

So the second one is. I have been working with autistic non speakers since September of last year doing RPM sessions. I would love to know how to best help my students. Some days I feel defeated and discouraged and think I'm not doing a good job. How can I improve or enhance my perception of what the students need? Sometimes I feel like they are trying to connect with me but I can't receive the message. So Ethan's answer is, trust in your instincts. The answers are there. Listen to your mind. Big problem knowing the answers and ignoring the instincts. You will have no problem connecting once you trust that not all of your thoughts are yours. I love my rolling knowledge from spirits. I love assisting in this by directly reading.

[A]

That's a great answer.

[C]

Okay, number three is when you are on the hill, have you been in the presence of and or communicated directly with non human intelligences? And are you able to ask them questions and receive clear responses? If so, why are they not openly disclosing their presence on earth? Ethan's response is, I truly believe there is intelligence that goes beyond the human race. There are things you wouldn't believe through word of mouth. The Hill is not a granted wonderland that all of us go to. It's what we make of it. I can choose if I believe and who I can communicate to. I go to the Hill. I'm on it now. I see dead people. They give me new perspectives on both life and mortality. Life is fragile. The fact that I will be dead longer than alive makes me get up every morning. I want to talk about my life and prior lives. I want to explain that the present life is distinct from prior lives and future lives and that we are temporary beings that have the ability to Be living multiple lives. We have one soul that has many lives. This is my only life that I have been a medium and have autism.

[A]

Beautiful.

[E]

So this is question four. I've observed that some non speakers appear to demonstrate a form of knowing that goes beyond typical intuition. In certain cases, they may be able to participate, anticipate future events or outcomes with notable consistency in a way that resembles predictive cognition or savant like perception. From your perspective, how should this phenomenon be understood? So Ethan says, by seeing dead people, I can predict some future events. Every human on planet Earth has a spirit guide. Even if they don't believe it, they are the compass that leads them to their placement in their unpredictable timeline. They know what will happen to them if they make a wrong turn. And sometimes they are helpless to stop them. I know if something is going to happen to others. Their guides are not shy. In fact, they are all the same. Blunt, very direct, and not always the most articulate. But at the end of the day, the future is what we make of it. I want people to know that they are not alone in making their futures a reality.

[A]

That's a beautiful answer. Does he ever talk about the spirit guides of all of you in the family? Like, has he named them or that he can see them? And what does he say about them?

[C]

Yes, he does. So what he's shared is that me and Ethan are more creative brains. So my nanny Jean, who was a singer on Earth, she kind of helps me and Ethan. And my nanny Bert guides Ashley in her daily life. So it's. It's really cool to have that insight. And it's cool to just, you know, in our average brains, be like, hey, thanks for helping me out, or thanks for guiding me.

[A]

Yeah. And it really does, at least for me, it really changes, like, the idea of, like, ancestors and their role in our lives, you know?

[C]

Yeah, totally. It's really nice to. To know that and to get that, like, validation a hundred percent.

[A]

So does Ethan want to say anything, like, while he's. Does he want to communicate anything or have any messages he wants to share?

[C]

Yeah, I would love to share his last response, which is a little longer. We typed this out last night. Has a lot of good insight. And then, yes, we can totally go ask him if there's anything else he wants to follow up. He's, like, pacing upstairs. I can tell he's excited.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So the last question is.

[A]

Hello.

[C]

This question is for any of you non speakers. I'm so happy that you guys have found your voice. I've always been interested in Psychic abilities and would like to know how one can access such abilities. What is the process? So Ethan says psychic abilities come when we are ready for them. Most people have intuition and dreams start there. I don't believe dreams are just our brains firing. What a silly dumbed down way of accepting science over spirit. Both exist together. Dreams are where to start. Meditating regularly helps tremendously open your abilities. Start accepting magic before demanding spiritual gifts. Our minds are radio stations that are tuned to what we choose. Normal people have too many distractions to fully connect. Meditation calms our bodies so we can hear what flows through us. Abilities are grown by building trust with the universe. A city of new faces exists beyond our mind's barriers. Barriers of reason will creep in and say it's fake. I assure you it's real. My encounter with spirit was scary. My uncle Arnold died and I saw him in my room. I hid under covers. He told me many stories about fishing with my dad. He got me through many frustrating moments in childhood. I grew up talking to him in heaven while I couldn't talk to my family on earth. My friend's dad died tragically when I was 8. He was very spiritually inclined on earth and taught me to embrace my spiritual gifts. My family is always around guiding my siblings. Nice great grandmothers take care of me now. I'm open to everyone past and alive. I hear Maddie like an angel on earth. She's open. Magic is a part of our world. God doesn't care if you believe or not. He's there. Your past loved ones are too. My gift on earth is powerful. It is hard to live in my body. My mind is where I stay. My life is metaphysical communication. Not a choice for me. My purpose, my goal is to help others with my gift. I hope I can bring peace to those who need it. My spirits do that for me. My gift is not unique. Others have access to this. I love you listeners. Thanks for supporting my community. I love you. I love this opportunity to be heard.

[A]

I love that so much. What a great answer.

[C]

Yeah, it's beautiful and it's. I love how it kind of encompassed a lot of what we talked about already.

[A]

At this point, the Statter family carried the laptop upstairs to Ethan who mentioned earlier he wanted a spell for this part of the interview. Hi Ethan, I just want to see if you want to say anything else. I loved everything you've written. It's so beautiful. Ethan was laser focused spelling on his bed about the opportunity to speak to all of you listeners for this interview.

[C]

That might have been hard to understand. But he said I'm happy beyond happy. Just feeling grateful. Know this part of my life.

[E]

Great.

[C]

Love this opportunity.

[A]

I'm so glad you could participate. And boy Ethan, you have some insights that are just profound I think are going to help a lot of people. Before we end it, Ethan spelled out one final message and here's Madeline reading it.

[C]

He said I'm happy, beyond happy. Just feeling grateful. Know this part of my life is great. Love this opportunity. My life not by accident my life meant to share my gifts. Love my community on the hill. Mom best mom ever. I'm lucky. Makes me happy to hear my family recall my stories. People need hope. This life is not just making money. How precious our souls are to be trusted on earth. Know God is proud of you Kai. Please keep going. No big success is still pending. Just the start. Please keep fighting for my community.

[A]

Of course. Thank you Ethan. Those are all such beautiful messages and it means so much to hear. So thank you for sharing that really. This Friday, an exclusive episode will be released on our subscriber only. Backstage Pass. Here's a clip from that episode.

[C]

She's just looking at me the whole time with her mouth hanging open and she said, everything you said is accurate and exact. Those are all places that we visited. Those are all things that we've said to each other and experiences that we've had. She said, the only thing is he is not dead. He's a couple doors down. You know, at home he has dementia and I did not know what to do.

[A]

If you'd like to hear more, subscribe to become an exclusive member at the link in the episode's description. That's it for this episode of the Talk Tracks, but new episodes will be released every Wednesday, so stay tuned as we work to unravel all the threads, even the veiled ones that knit together our reality. And please remember to stay kind, stay curious, and that being a true skeptic requires an open mind. Thank you to my amazing collaborators, producers Kathryn Ellis and Selina Kennedy. Technical directing Audio mix and finishing by Jeremy Cole Opening and closing music by Elizabeth PW and original logo and cover art by Ben Condora. Design. I'm Kai Dickens, your executive producer, writer and host.

[B]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail], progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.