Some research on non-verbal autistic individuals has raised questions about how they communicate and understand, but the dominant consensus is sceptical of telepathy as an explanation.

By Featured Writer, Biba Rey.

For a very long time, we’ve been told we have five senses: sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. But what if human perception goes beyond that list?

What if our minds, not just our bodies, play a role in how we sense and communicate with each other?

This post examines that possibility. It explores the idea of telepathy (mind-to-mind communication), reviews current research and criticism, and profiles two prominent voices in the field: One is Dalia Burgoin, whom I watched on the Danny Jones podcast, and the second was a documentary I happened to come across in my feed, which turns out has blown up in the field of science and psychology, and of course talk amongst sceptics, called The Telepathy Tapes.

I was instantaneously drawn to the idea. I’ve never been somebody who accepts things at face value, and curiosity has always been second nature to me, as has research. So when this crossed my path, it felt like a clear nudge to dig deeper and explore it for myself.

A caveat to my earlier point; this is not a one-sided perspective but rather a general take on the facts from all the literature I've found online, consisting of a mix of podcasts, videos, published articles, peer reviews, case studies, and real-life scenarios recorded by all parties: the experiencers, the unbiased researchers, and the observers.

Rethinking the Five Senses

The traditional list of senses is a good starting point. It helps explain how we interpret the world through our bodies. But in recent decades, scientists and philosophers have argued that we have more than five senses.

Here are a few expansions to consider:

Vestibular sense (balance)
Proprioception (body-position awareness)
Interoception (internal body awareness, e.g., hunger, heartbeat)

These are well accepted in physiology.
Beyond that, there are claims of even subtler senses: intuition, extrasensory perception (ESP), and telepathy.

If such phenomena exist, they would stretch our understanding of perception and communication.

Extracted from this article published on the World Economic Forum website: Humans have more than five senses.
The role of interoception (internal body awareness) is covered in the peer-reviewed article “The Emerging Science of Interoception: Sensing, Integrating …” in PubMed Central.
Human senses and sensors from Aristotle to the present: published in Frontiers in Neurology.

Telepathy: What It Means

Telepathy is defined as direct mind-to-mind communication without using the conventional physical senses. It implies thoughts, images, or feelings are transmitted or shared between individuals.
Historically, the idea has been part of parapsychology, which points to mental abilities such as telepathy and telekinesis, and one variant is *Dream Telepathy: communication while someone is dreaming.

Even though conventional science remains unconvinced of this idea, ongoing research into ESP (extra-sensory perception) has, for the most part, failed; nevertheless, new voices are claiming fresh evidence and appealing to us to consider the possibilities that are not just out there but within us.

*As mentioned by Dalia in the podcast, it is something that her daughter Lidu is capable of doing.

The Telepathy Tapes: A Case Study

The Telepathy Tapes is a podcast produced by Ky Dickens. According to the website, the show “explores the origins of consciousness and the unexplained abilities of ESP through science, verifiable experience, formal testing, and human story.”
Season 1 focuses on non-speaking autistic individuals who are said to communicate through telepathy.
As expected, the podcast has attracted substantial criticism. A Skeptical Inquirer article describes it as “a veritable cornucopia of pseudoscientific beliefs, some new and many old, all presented with breathless wonder and inspirational background music,” and warns that much of the methodology resembles discredited practices like facilitated communication (FC).

Key points:

The show presents families where non-speaking individuals apparently communicate telepathically or via letter boards (Wikipedia: The Telepathy Tapes).
Critics warn that these practices are risky, noting unclear authorship, weak experimental controls, and results that may not reflect what they seem (Skeptical Inquirer).
The show invites listeners to “re-examine long-held assumptions and listen deeply to people whose voices have been silenced.” (The Guardian).

So, while I find it provocative, the material must be treated with caution and a critical mindset.

Dalia Burgoin and Mind Sight

Dalia Burgoin is the mother of a non-verbal autistic teenager named Lidu, who shows unusual perceptual abilities. She explains telepathy and what she calls “mind sight” in a YouTube interview, “Telepathy & Mind Sight with Dalia Burgoin.” She discusses how she and her daughter Lidu (a non-speaker) can communicate telepathically, as well as how Lidu can see things before they happen.
Key points:

Burgoin reports her daughter communicates via what appears to be telepathy or a non-verbal channel beyond the five senses (Video Highlight and PlayerFM).
She mentions collaboration with scientist Diane Hennacy Powell and experiments under lab conditions (Video Highlight).
She says telepathic skills can be trained, not just innate.

In this respect, we can observe that her story has overlapped with The Telepathy Tapes (here, both are non-speaking people, and telepathic claims are being made). However, similarly to The Telepathy Tapes, her work is not peer-reviewed science that is fully accepted as of today.

What Does the Empirical Research Say?

In the scientific literature about telepathy and extrasensory perception, you will find a jumble of intriguing suggestions and vast gaps.

Key points:

Most of the experiments conducted in parapsychology during the early days (e.g., dream telepathy experiments, card-guessing experiments) had weak controls and had failed replications (Dream Telepathy - Wikipedia).
One of the biggest issues is the crisis of replication: assertions about ESP can hardly be sustained under rigorous and blinded repeated testing.
It is vague what supports the philosophical and neuroscientific explanation of telepathy: how would minds be able to direct the connectivity free of the senses or the neuronal connection? These are hypothetical theories and speculative.
Some research on non-verbal autistic individuals has raised questions about how they communicate and understand, but the dominant consensus is sceptical of telepathy as an explanation. The previously mentioned article criticises The Telepathy Tapes for relying on unproven methods.

So, while the notion of “more than five senses” is well justified (balance, proprioception, internal senses), the leap to telepathy remains unconfirmed in standard science.

If Telepathy Doesn’t Fit Current Science, What Could These Experiences Be?

Having looked at a general podcast discussion, like on this Reddit thread, for instance: Thoughts on The Telepathy Tapes: Are People Actually Watching the Videos?

Discussions of alternative interpretations are presented, and some say these alternatives could be:

Hidden cognitive/sensory skills: Humans may use subtle cues (facial expressions, “gut feelings”, micro-movements) that feel like telepathy.
Enhanced non-verbal communication: Some non-speaking individuals may learn to read subtle signals or develop internal mapping of attention and context.
Misattribution: Because of the strong desire to believe, ordinary coincidences may be interpreted as telepathy.

The Reddit communities' commentary on The Telepathy Tapes highlights concerns:

“The telepathy tapes are dangerous pseudoscience that puts vulnerable kids at risk of harm.” (Reddit)

In short, strong claims require strong evidence. The current evidence for telepathy is weak by standard criteria.

Why the Appeal?

It is not without reason that an interest in telepathy and extra senses continues:

Human beings need a more intimate relationship. Suppose you feel that thought is able to travel across space; then communication will be enriched.
The emotional appeal of stories about non-speaking people or autistic people who seem to go against the grain is effective. The article by The Guardian about The Telepathy Tapes emphasises the aspect of the search for new possibilities by parents of autistic children (The Guardian).

However, emotions cannot replace rigour in scientific validation.

The Future: How to Look at This With an Open Yet Critical Mind

It is a wholesome act to promote a culture of inquisitiveness and not gullibility. We are in a world where human experience usually transcends the textbook list of five senses.

Scientists have acknowledged the fact of balance, body awareness, and internal sensing as real. Telepathy makes us wonder whether mind-to-mind communication exists; practitioners such as Dalia Burgoin and media such as The Telepathy Tapes present vivid accounts and bold statements.

However, the scientific record remains cautious: experiments have not been able to yield consistent, reliable and replicable evidence… yet.

I personally am not for or against this idea. But for someone who is constantly learning about and exploring the limits of the mind, further than what we typically know or understand, there is some method to this madness.

Positive Takeaways

There are some positive takeaways from all of this; for instance, Dalia encourages practices like meditation, body-mind awareness, and reduction of sensory overload.

If you listen to all the resources carefully, she specifically states that this is not some "magic trick" or guaranteed psychic breakthrough, but rather she poses the idea of acknowledging the hidden capacities within human perception and looking at it with an open mind and respect.

She has also mentioned the ethical concerns regarding handling non-verbal and sensitive individuals carefully, without making any unverified claims, and also maintaining the consent and dignity of that individual.

It's all about open curiosity… isn’t it?

The overall tone is: yes, there might be more than the five senses, and yes, some people claim atypical perceptual modes – and as the evidence continues to evolve, I will continue to do my research.

Test your own awareness. What are your thoughts on all of this?

The Sixth Sense and Beyond: How Humans Are Wired for More Than We Think, and the Question of Telepathy