Hopestream: Parenting Kids Through Addiction & Mental Health

The Telepathy Tapes: Connection Can Defy Logic, But Not Love, with Betsy Hicks-Russ

• Brenda Zane • Season 6 • Episode 302

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ABOUT THE EPISODE:

When your child's struggles shatter every paradigm you've held about communication, consciousness, and connection, where do you turn? Today's guest, Betsy Hicks-Russ, found herself navigating this exact terrain as the mother of Joey, a 32-year-old non-speaking autistic man whose journey would ultimately revolutionize her understanding of human potential. Through her discovery of The Telepathy Tapes—a groundbreaking podcast documenting telepathic abilities in non-speaking individuals—Betsy's world transformed from one of perceived limitations to infinite possibilities.

Now, while you may not think this episode seems relevant to families navigating substance use challenges, the parallels are more profound than you'd imagine. Both journeys involve watching your child exist in what appears to be an unreachable state, questioning expert opinions that don't align with your intuition, and discovering that behaviors we label as "problems" might actually be sophisticated attempts at regulation and connection. 

Whether your child is non-speaking or struggling with substances, the path forward often requires releasing control, working on your own healing, and trusting that beneath the visible challenges lies a soul seeking authentic connection—just perhaps through unconventional channels.

In this truly riveting conversation, Betsy shares the profound shift that occurred when she learned her son wasn't trapped in silence but was actually part of what she calls "the telepathic tribe"—individuals who communicate through frequency rather than words. Her evolution from believing experts who said Joey "wasn't there" to recognizing him as a spiritually advanced being holding space for humanity's awakening offers a radical reframe for how we perceive our children's challenges. 

This isn't just about autism or telepathy—it's about the courage to question everything you've been told about your child's capabilities and to trust the deeper knowing that whispers beneath conventional wisdom. Get ready to have your mind blown. 

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Brenda: Cathy and Betsy, I love that we are having this conversation. I also love that we're having this conversation, so on the fly, what you guys probably don't know is that we totally forgot to land this on Cathy's calendar. So one minute ago I was like, Cathy, what are you doing? Because we have a podcast recording and look how pretty you look.

[00:00:24] Cathy: You know, this day I roll, this is how I roll. You know, I think when you get very used to, hey are you around? Can you jump on? I mean, I'm glad I wore some makeup today. It, it actually worked out. I know. 

[00:00:37] Betsy: Chances of catching me with makeup midday with pretty low. 

[00:00:43] Brenda: So, Betsy, thank you so much for jumping on this because, the way that this episode came about is that Cathy recommended that I listen to a podcast and I, of course if she recommends something, I'm always gonna listen. But I put this [00:01:00] one off a little bit because the podcast that she recommended me listen to is called The Telepathy Tapes and I was thinking, okay, I don't even know really what that means. And I saw the artwork and it was really cute and pink and it had like a tape and I was like.

[00:01:14] Brenda: Okay, whatever. I don't even know. 'cause usually what we're listening to are like dark addiction, you know, recovery stories or whatever. So I finally and somewhere, I can't even remember where I was at the time I hit play, and I did not stop until I'd listened to every single second because I was so riveted and also horrified excited, happy, all the emotions. And I think I had so many times when I was crying, I was just mind blown. And so I was, I'm telling Cathy this, right? I'm like, what in the world? And we'll talk about why I'm feeling this [00:02:00] way. And she was like, oh. Casually. She's like, you should talk to my friend Betsy. I'm like, who? Like lives in a telepathy world. So that is the origin story of this episode, and we just, I just feel so passionate that everybody needs to listen to every second of this podcast. I have told. So many people, everyone in my family thinks I'm bananas. 'cause every time I talk to somebody I'm like, have you listened to telepathy tapes?

[00:02:30] Brenda: Like even at the Trader Joe's line, you know how they say at Trader Joe's like, oh, what are you doing today? I'm like. I figure I might as well take every opportunity right. It's important. So thank you for being here. Absolutely. Thank you, Cathy, for introducing us to this. Of course. Beautiful human and her son Cathy.

[00:02:51] Brenda: Are we allowed 

[00:02:52] Betsy: to say how we met? Sure. Cathy and I went to high school together. We did. She was [00:03:00] cooler than me, so she wasn't really, my friend wouldn't say that. I would say that. I knew her. She was really nice, but she was with the cool kids and I was a dork, so not really. 

[00:03:10] Cathy: Not really, but that's okay.

[00:03:12] Cathy: That's so cute. So 

[00:03:15] Brenda: Betsy, can you just give us a quick rundown mm-hmm. Of what is the telepathy tapes? Why is it caught the world on fire. And then we'll dive into a little bit more personal on your story in particular, 

[00:03:32] Betsy: It's catching the world on fire because it's supposed to, in the sense of this has always been the truth and this is the time for it to come out and the world is now ready for it, and that's why it's going on fire is because people are now ready for it. And there's a time and place when any powerful truth can be released and not everybody's always ready to [00:04:00] hear it. There's a huge awakening that people are asking for, trying to understand things that have just not been properly explained to them, and now they're asking questions, and now it's time to show what's really happening and the ability that the non- speakers have been able to demonstrate. Do, would you want me to talk about the telepathy tapes and what it's about first? Yeah. Just give us an overview so that we are, we're all on the same page. Right. So the telepathy tapes started by Kai Dickinson, who was basically curious in hearing about these autistic individuals who used telepathy to communicate.

[00:04:40] Betsy: It's important and imperative of the story that there are these autistic non- speakers, by the way, we call them non- speakers, not nonverbal. Nonverbal is a past term that was used, but now we're realizing just because they are non- speaking doesn't mean they don't have words. It's just they don't speak the words.

[00:04:58] Betsy: So the term non- [00:05:00] speakers is now into mainstream and with non- speakers. For so many years. What we weren't aware is that these individuals were hearing, receiving, assimilating everything, but they had no way because of apraxia, which we can talk about more too. They had no ways to be able to deliver their messages, so everybody treated them like they weren't even in the room.

[00:05:24] Betsy: Everyone said they were in their own world. Everyone discounted anything about them, didn't teach them anything, and just let them just grow old. Teaching nothing. And these beautiful individuals were in such a deep desperation to connect. So they tapped in to something that's available to all of us. All of us have the ability to use telepathy, but in their desperation, just like somebody who is blind has a great sense of hearing and their desperation, they became very telepathic and they found that they [00:06:00] were able to connect with others. What was so unbelievable for Kai as she was starting to interview these individuals is how much, so many of 'em story was exactly the same. Regardless of what state or even country they were in. And that's where the most amazing stories kind of like are stemmed from.

[00:06:22] Betsy: So that's kind of it and now we are starting to, the thing that I am the most shocked with is I heard all this coming and I'm friends with people that are involved with it. And such is how well received it's been. Like, that's what I love because that is a, that is the showing and our whole consciousness as human beings is completely taking a turn and we're all starting to understand that there's something so much bigger than what can be explained.

[00:06:55] Brenda: Yes. Cathy, when you, how did you first hear [00:07:00] about, did you hear about the telepathy tapes from Betsy or did you just stumble across it? 

[00:07:04] Cathy: I did. So Betsy and I do text each other and occasionally and but I follow Betsy and her wonderful Autism Odyssey account on, I think it's an account on Instagram maybe where I saw that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah but also Betsy has a private account that, she and I are friends and so I saw Betsy talking to somebody about it on, she was doing, she does these amazing reels with her son and all of these things, and definitely go give her a follow.

[00:07:35] Cathy: It's truly amazing. So I saw that and I thought, oh, that's, I wonder what that is everything that Betsy has ever suggested we do, we agree on lots of levels about food and everything. So I thought, oh, Betsy's recommending this podcast. I should check it out. And I do remember we were driving to see our daughter in Santa Barbara and I [00:08:00] had started to listen to it and I brought my husband in who's also kind of into this. And so we listened to two episodes and we said, that's it. I can't want listen to anymore. We kind of know this stuff, right? So then when we came back, I listened to episode three, four, kept going. And by, and like you Brenda, I binged the entire thing and I sent one of those little emojis with the skull bursting out the mind blow emoji.

[00:08:32] Cathy: The mind blown emoji to Betsy and she replied, I think Right. Sounds like weird. And that's why I was hooked. I knew I had to share it to everybody just like you. I know because, because I can see that. But I just on a personal level. I just, I know Betsy has this amazing, her children are amazing, and her son, who I've never met, but she shares a lot about, I just thought, [00:09:00] wow, how special and how different her relationship might be with her son now that she, shared this information with me.

[00:09:09] Cathy: It made me start realizing and looking at, her son Joey, in a very different light. Than I had before. Absolutely. And I thank you for that because that is something that was very deep for me. And you know, we don't like to judge others, but we do. And you know, we look at them. And I appreciate all that you share, Betsy, because it brings a layer of understanding.

[00:09:34] Cathy: You know, I'll never know what it's like to be a mother of a non-speaking individual like Joey, but at least I can begin to understand a little more. 

[00:09:44] Betsy: Thank you. 

[00:09:45] Brenda: Appreciate that, Betsy. I would love to have you share about your son and your story with him, so that people who are listening can understand why this is so transformational for families like yours.

[00:09:59] Brenda: [00:10:00] Okay. 

[00:10:00] Betsy: So, Joey's 32 and, to briefly bring you through my life, I was divorced from Joey's dad, young when Joey was young, I remarried a pediatrician who he and I started a holistic practice together that specialized in autism. And we went to every conference imaginable regarding autism. I mean, I had no reason to believe that I wasn't an expert like I was at the conferences I was living the life. I mean, Joey was one of the most challenging cases that John had, and I felt like I knew what was going on. And sadly, John died nine years ago, unexpectedly, and I connected with my now partner Ron, and we moved up to Washington State.

[00:10:55] Betsy: So that's the schematics of my life as far as like the background's concerned. Now, let me tell you [00:11:00] about Joey. So Joey grew up very much we were told he's not there. He doesn't understand anything. They, never taught him anything. They gave him kind of like the Bob books maybe at one point they tried to teach him all different kinds of PECS and picture cards. They worked on a, a, c devices because he lived before a a c even became a thing. And then when a, a c became a thing that's basically communication devices so that they're holding an iPad and they're able to communicate in various ways.

[00:11:33] Betsy: And so he had some of the best different programs. And Joey just, we were always told was just a little. A little too severe little too he's not one of the lucky ones. He's gonna be one of the ones who really is never going to get ahead, just let him have as happy of a life as possible.

[00:11:53] Betsy: And I resided to that. You know, this is, this is just our destiny. I didn't even know if he knew his last [00:12:00] name. I didn't think he knew much of anything, and, but I loved him. And I kept him active 'cause I know he loved to be active and it was a few years ago that I had made a video. My handle, by the way, is Betsy on the go.

[00:12:17] Betsy: And I had made a video and I had said in the video, somebody had asked me the question, how much does Joey understand? I go, oh. You know, like I think it's kind of like if somebody understands a different language where you can get bits and pieces of it, but you really don't understand the whole thing.

[00:12:35] Betsy: And somebody, a friend of mine sent a, she wasn't a friend at the time, but she is now. But my friend Julianne sent me a message saying, I just would like you to think about this world of spelling, because the spelling programs have been around for. I mean decades. 'cause I knew about spelling, but we were always told, yeah, for some, but not for Joey.

[00:12:57] Betsy: And but she says, my son Beau is a [00:13:00] speller and he uses a letter board to communicate. And I think that you might be surprised how much more your son understands than you think. So I heard about this two more times and you know, it comes in threes and I was like, okay, I'm gonna do something about it.

[00:13:14] Betsy: So I called the agency and they said, well, the closest practitioner is five hours away. And I'm like, okay, well what do I have to lose? And of course, you go that first time thinking that you're gonna walk in there and your child's just gonna start spelling. And you have that beautiful moment of like, oh my gosh.

[00:13:33] Betsy: And I walked in there and Joey was like, whatever. I don't even know what you're doing. I don't understand. He was acting like, I don't get what you're trying to do here. And I was very, downfall and just kind of feeling like. This, I dunno if this is gonna work, but I had promised myself I'd do a few more times and I did, and I kept going just a couple more times and I didn't see much of hope with it, but it was something to do and it was keeping us busy and he didn't seem to [00:14:00] hate it super much.

[00:14:00] Betsy: And so we just kept kind of going, well then the practitioner who I was going to see gives me this announcement, by the way, my boyfriend just got transferred and I'm moving to Bellingham where I live. She was moving to my hometown and I was like, okay, well now, now I gotta do this. Like that was a sign.

[00:14:23] Betsy: So I went once a week religiously. I never missed, she had to cancel several times, but I was there, I was committed to this, and he would fall asleep and he would maybe attend for five minutes before having a meltdown. And I'm dishing out the money for this. And I mean, by all intent purposes, I should have quit.

[00:14:42] Betsy: I should have quit, right? But I didn't because there was something inside of me that said to keep going. And then one day. After years of kind of back and forth where I was maybe going once a month originally, and then, you know, time had passed and she had to move. So it was like [00:15:00] after years I went to a session and the session was on the desert, and she showed a picture of, white hills in a desert. And she says, I don't know, Joey, what do you think? You know, it's the desert, so it doesn't make sense that it's snow, but yet it's white. So do you think it's white sand or do you think it's snow? And Joey goes to his board and he spells it's salt.

[00:15:28] Betsy: He knew that those were Salt Hills from, I don't even know where. Right. I think they were Turkey or something like that. Wow. And I just started to cry and I just like, wait, wait, what? Like, how does he know that? So then we just kept going, mind you, a session is not, you don't go in there and you don't just openly communicate because the practitioner is trying to teach.

[00:15:56] Betsy: The child, the individual, to have this [00:16:00] movement of learning how to use the fingers, right? Apraxia is what's our kids are dealing with. It's not so much the challenge of autism, it's apraxia, which is a brain body disconnect, which is why they think the words, but they can't say the words right, and why they wanna touch something but their body doesn't move.

[00:16:16] Betsy: So for years it was just this practice of just simple lessons about. The deserts or astronomy or whatever it might be, and him just pointing to the answers and practicing that movement. So once we knew he was there and things, I saw that, oh my gosh, he knows something that I can't believe he knows. He eventually started answering questions, open-endedly, and that moved into sentences.

[00:16:43] Betsy: And then eventually now he spells in paragraphs and now I know more about my son than I could have ever dreamt of and that's kind of, and that's only been in the last, really last year that it's really kind of taken [00:17:00] off. 

[00:17:00] Brenda: It's so unbelievable. And so just to give some context, like he's, you said he is 32?

[00:17:09] Brenda: 32, yeah, 32. So up until 30, 31 when you started doing this. He had never spoken to you, never communicated anything with you. Mm-hmm. Never showed that he knew that your No. Like your name or his last name? No. Or nothing? Nothing. 

[00:17:29] Betsy: Nothing. 

[00:17:29] Brenda: I just, I'm trying to even comprehend how that would feel. Not only 

[00:17:36] Betsy: for you, but for him.

[00:17:38] Betsy: It's right, it's, incredible for both of us, but I'd say it quite often. It's like my brain doesn't even have a place to compartmentalize it yet. No. Like it's still so etheric and just floating around me instead of, actually, it's still so unreal. But now, for [00:18:00] the longest time, he could only spell with his practitioner.

[00:18:03] Betsy: Now he spells with me. So we practice every single morning and he spells with me every morning there's a tremendous amount of regret. There's a tremendous amount of sadness attached to it. Embarrassment there's a lot of anger all of that. But the beautiful part is if you go to my page on either TikTok, Instagram or Facebook, the pinned video is of the first time Joey said he loved me, and after he said he loved me.

[00:18:35] Betsy: I said, I am so, so sorry that I underestimated you. And he said, it's okay. I get it forgiven. And that's been his whole thing ever since is that this is water under the bridge. Let's go forward. It's forgiven. I get it. He said, I get it. 

[00:18:57] Brenda: Yeah, I watched that. I would just have [00:19:00] some Kleenex with you when you watch that.

[00:19:02] Brenda: A hundred percent. It is not possible to watch it and not cry. I'm just gonna warn you in advance. It is so, so incredible and he just, you can just tell what a beautiful human he is. Oh, he is so, so beautiful. I mean, it's so, it's so incredible. 

[00:19:21] Betsy: So that. That's one component. Okay. Now the telepathy tapes comes out and it's.

[00:19:31] Betsy: Oh, okay. Okay. Like I feel like I was just starting to get grounded in understanding all that's going on when the telepathy tapes comes out. And now I'm like, what is happening? Are you kidding me? And so here's the thing to know. A lot of the speller programs will not talk about telepathy. And I get it, and it's because the speller programs are very scientific based.

[00:19:57] Betsy: They have been working for [00:20:00] decades to try to get this into the schools, to get this mainstream because this is what the non- speakers need. It's so powerful. But no, everybody discounts them and they are so close to being able to show the data, showing these individuals, right, are spellers. And the telepathy tape set them back.

[00:20:19] Betsy: Mm. And the reason being is because now it's become a woowoo thing, right? Yeah. And that's been a challenge. So if you'll never talk to a spelling practitioner, typically because they are not allowed to talk about telepathy, I, on the other hand can say whatever I want and I will tell you. That from the first time we asked Joey, or I asked him about telepathy, the question was that he was posed.

[00:20:49] Betsy: And by the way, it's exhausting for Joey to spell. I can't just sit there day after day after day and get paragraphs out of him. No. Like, like he gets so [00:21:00] tremendously tired in the effort to be able to do this, that he, the, I mean the, the kid can, can hike for 13 miles, but he's absolutely exhausted from spelling and so it's not like he's just dying to tell us everything.

[00:21:15] Betsy: So we're I save up questions. The most important questions. So we asked the question, from the telepathy tapes, it's talked about how all of these individuals from the telepathy tapes talk about going to a place that they typically go to called The Hill. The part that this so remarkable is that these are people in different countries, different states, and they all talked about the hill, they all were spelling about the hill. And the hill is a place it's not heaven, it's not, or even in my term of law of attraction. It's not the vortex. It's not this perfect, perfect like world. It is just a communal place where they all get together and they [00:22:00] can be in groups of special interest and they have different age groups and they all connect in this place called The Hill and there's many hills and they connect at different ones.

[00:22:11] Betsy: So I was super curious to know, does Joey go to the Hill? But to make the question more direct, is the first time I learned about the Hill, we asked in spelling every night at around eight o'clock, Joey, you like to turn off all the lights in the house and you kind of banish Ron and I to our bedroom, and you want a quiet space?

[00:22:35] Betsy: What's going on? And he said, A dark room and quiet space helps me connect with my silent amigos. They tell me stories of their days and I tell jokes. 

[00:22:49] Cathy: Wow. 

[00:22:50] Betsy: Which of course, my first inclination was. My son's the funny one. 

[00:22:56] Brenda: I was like, 

[00:22:56] Betsy: I was so happy. 

[00:22:59] Brenda: Like, [00:23:00] yes, he's the jokester. 

[00:23:03] Betsy: I wanted my son to be the class clown so that was so cool. But, so that was, now we under, then we understood. And we are actually having a meeting of a lot of the people, as you know, if you listen to the telepathy tapes, John Paul, the Sweet Boy. I don't wanna give it away to anybody what happens. Yes. But John Paul's mom, Libby.

[00:23:25] Betsy: And Katie Asher, whose son is Houston, we're all and a bunch of other people connected and some other parents all over the country. Were all getting together in Atlanta in a few weeks and we're starting to prepare for the first presume Comp Fest, which is going to help bridge telepathy and spelling to help families understand the way it combines together.

[00:23:49] Cathy: Oh, that's fantastic. 

[00:23:50] Brenda: Wow. I just have goosebumps 'cause it's so it's so incredible and yeah, I was gonna ask you about the Hill [00:24:00] because I think that is something, as I was listening, I'm like, wait a minute. They're all talking about this thing. Yeah. And so that's really interesting to know that he's there telling jokes, which is really cute like oh, this is like a billion questions. I just don't even know where to, can this start 

[00:24:19] Cathy: this? Can this be a two hour podcast? 

[00:24:22] Betsy: Too many questions. I wanna, I wanna circle it around if I could. Yes. Kind of. Because you know, I have a podcast house, so I'm really good and be like, here I have a question.

[00:24:31] Betsy: Here she goes. Yes, yes, yes. Because here's where I love the work that you're doing because I definitely in my family have addiction issues and know a lot about some subjects that we're related to, but I feel that even though it might be a little off brand to have somebody like myself on your show.

[00:24:56] Betsy: Oh, I don't care. It's my show. I get to do what I want, [00:25:00] I think. I think there's a powerful connection, and it comes to play with the fact that for years I thought my son, who was the non-speaker, was the raw end of the deal was the lower end of the stick was the worse situation. And through the years I have met so many individuals who have had to mask their autism into adulthood and not be authentic to who they are, and had to deal with insane trauma because of it, because they're never able to be authentic and.

[00:25:48] Betsy: A lot of them use rote words they speak, but they speak the same things over and over again because those are the things that they were taught to say and they are not able to live an authentic [00:26:00] life. And now I look at my son, who is the model of authenticity in the sense that you couldn't he's unconditionable.

[00:26:11] Betsy: You can't condition him to do anything. You can't bribe him to do anything, right? He's going to do what his body is able to do and feels able to do. Mm-hmm. But yet he's connected on such a deep level spiritually through relationships, whatever it might be, that now I feel he's at the high end of the spectrum.

[00:26:35] Betsy: He's the lucky one. He's the one who's able to vibrate in a resonance that's much more conducive to who he is and all that he is rather than to put on a show. And I think that the lesson that I've learned is that we need to stop asking individuals to mask, and to put on that show and to be something that they're not, [00:27:00] because it's creating insane amounts of trauma and insane amounts of anxiety.

[00:27:05] Brenda: A 

[00:27:05] Betsy: hundred 

[00:27:06] Brenda: percent. So true I mean, I know Cathy, you feel the same way, that there's, there's just something special about our kids and we talk about it a lot in our community and we talk a lot about it on the podcast here. And there was something in one of the episodes, I can't remember which one it was, 'cause they all blurred together 'cause I never stopped about a shield. Do you know what I'm talking about? Like that most like, I guess you would call 'em neurotypical, if that's still a word that's being used. People kind of have a shield between them and the world. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that the non- speakers really don't have any shield, like the world moves in and through them.

[00:27:43] Brenda: And I have always thought that our kids, at least my son, like his shield is very, it's more like a mesh. It's, it's not gone, but it's not as solid. And I think I have the same thing. And this is really true of highly [00:28:00] sensitive people. People who like, I feel the world so differently than I think a lot of people do.

[00:28:07] Brenda: They talk about a shield, like, I don't know where I came up with that, but I feel like I remember them talking about that and it just clicked immediately. It makes complete 

[00:28:14] Betsy: sense because that is a lot what it is. I mean, the masking is a big part of what we are expecting people to do because when you think of it, a good way to explain what masking is I have insane audio sensitivity.

[00:28:30] Betsy: I really struggle being inside a place with multiple different sounds and voices and music. Yeah. Okay. So all those things going on. My partner Ron, is, he lives for live music and he'll go into like a room and he'll be making idle chit chat with everybody and he'll just have the best old time just being with the music and to having non-important [00:29:00] conversations with people. And then this person is, you know, there's a beeping sound over here and there's somebody's playing something on their phone here and the speakers and I am just like doing everything in my power to help regulate my sensory, my overstimulated sensory.

[00:29:16] Betsy: Yes. And that is a part of what masking can be. It's kind of taking. Like getting rid of the intuitive feeling that you should not be here. You need to get out of this room. Yes, you need to do something that feels better to you. And saying, no, I have to stay here because my mom said I need to stay here or because is a classroom and I have to go to school. Or, because of all the different reasons and I have to, I have to leave what feels intuitive to my body and I have to force myself to be in a situation, and that is why the masking creates such insane anxiety and a mistrust that you [00:30:00] can ever get regulated because you're living in a world that is stimulating you in so many different ways.

[00:30:05] Betsy: As an adult, I can walk out of the room as an adult and somebody who's respected, I can say, Hey, you know what? I'm really tired. I think I need to go take, I need to go back to the to the room but if you're a child and you're being forced to do these things. It's incredibly dysregulating and that's where behaviors will start to come from.

[00:30:26] Cathy: So Betsy you mentioned. That's so interesting. So I'm thinking back on when you said that, you know, Joey would go and turn off all the lights and go to his room. So despite there being potentially a lot of individuals there that he can communicate with, it's a very different, it's a very different reality for him to do that versus what you and Brenda were just talking about, being in these rooms where there's lots of music and everything else, even though there might be a lot going on in those what he's experiencing. [00:31:00] It's different to his whole being, right? He doesn't, 

[00:31:02] Betsy: he can connect, he can connect to what, whatever he needs to connect to and not have all of his senses affected at the same time. So he's able to choose his connection. It's the senses that are messing so many of us up, and let's face it, anxiety is getting bigger, trauma is getting bigger. All of these things that are getting bigger has, there's a correlation to the fact that sensory input is getting bigger. 

[00:31:31] Cathy: Yeah. 

[00:31:32] Betsy: Through electronics, through lights, through so many different venues from everything is just, it's getting bigger and you know, we're on that phone and we're flipping it and the sensors are just kind of being fired up and fired up.

[00:31:46] Betsy: It's very, very different than when I was a kid and we spent a lot of time playing on the street. And it was just kind of a different world back then. So we're trying to sift through all of this sensory stuff and, but yeah, [00:32:00] 

[00:32:00] Brenda: there's so many parallels that I have been thinking about, you know, as I was listening, for families like yours, families like ours, where our kids are seen as different, 

[00:32:11] Betsy: yeah.

[00:32:12] Brenda: They're seen often as scary. You know, because people can't identify like, I don't know, like why is that kid flapping his arms or why is he making weird sounds? And then they look at our kids who are, you know, kind of thugging around or doing things that are dangerous. And there's so much stigma, I think attached to both.

[00:32:33] Brenda: And as a parent, when you are parenting a child, who to you feels very vulnerable and I would have to imagine that Joey has felt very vulnerable to you as the mother. Like you just wanna protect him because the world is not super understanding and not, you know, to like the effort to try and get services for throughout in listening to the telepathy tapes just had [00:33:00] me fuming because it felt very similar to trying to get our kids help, where it's like just you're fighting tooth and nail for something that is lifesaving life giving, right?

[00:33:14] Brenda: And mm-hmm. And that just weighs a lot on the parents, obviously. But what I was thinking too with Joey, and I don't know if you've had this conversation or if you have a sense of it, that it seems like for 30 years he was having to live separately, but he was, I assume, like he was understanding he was processing things that mm-hmm you weren't thinking that he was. Mm-hmm and would, and the, I was thinking of the trauma that, that would cause. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That for so many years, nobody has believed me. Nobody has seen me, nobody has, you know, been treating me this way and to a much less degree. Our kids, I think, [00:34:00] experience a lot of the same thing because we aren't seeing the true one that they are. We are trying to make them into something that they're not. Well, I want you to be the basketball star. I want you to be mm-hmm the concert pianist. I want you to be the lacrosse player. 

[00:34:13] Cathy: Mm-hmm. 

[00:34:13] Brenda: And they don't want that. But they don't often feel like they can tell us that. Not because they can't speak, but because we are not receptive to their message.

[00:34:23] Betsy: Oh, truly. Mm-hmm. It's so true. And, but this is where the interesting thing is, is that when your kids in your situation are feeling lost, and they're feeling like they need someone to really talk about what they really want, you know, where are they going? They're going to the internet, they're going to sources that may not be giving them the best information.

[00:34:51] Betsy: Joey is going to the hill, right? And so I think that this [00:35:00] lack of anger. And love is stemmed from the fact that he does have a support system internally with him 24 7 that he knows how to tap into. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Whether it's, I don't know, to the extent of his spirituality, I have not been able to dive and ask the right questions to get that understood but it the fact is that he has had support all of these years and it was support probably a million times better than I could have ever offered. Yeah, because it's a universal loving support. 

[00:35:38] Brenda: Wow. Never thought about that. That is really true, and it seems like the, from all the people on the podcast series that the one message that came through to me over and over and over is love.

[00:35:55] Brenda: So big. That's just it. Like, it's not that 

[00:35:58] Betsy: complicated. It's [00:36:00] so big. It isn't complicated at all. It's love. It's so tremendously big and it's because it's the basis of all that is happening with them. It's the basis it's not all, you know, it's not all roses. They have, they deal with a lot of sadness on the hill.

[00:36:17] Betsy: They have to know that their friend is struggling it's the fact that they're all looking out for each other and they have community. Okay. They have this community. They have to deal with sadnesses and watch their friends, you know?

[00:36:31] Betsy: Yeah. Just being hurt and injured and struggled in so many different ways. But they hold onto that community and love in beautiful, beautiful ways. 

[00:36:41] Cathy: Yeah. And it's so amazing 'cause you think these are concepts that you would think before you, we knew all of this. You would've thought these would be really difficult concepts for these individuals.

[00:36:54] Cathy: But it truly, they are so far beyond us and what we're Yeah, the [00:37:00] expectations of who they are. I mean it's, it's just blown why out way out of the water. Right. It's crazy. That's so cool. 

[00:37:10] Brenda: What's the most either like surprising, interesting, shocking thing that you've learned about Joey since you've been communicating with him in this way?

[00:37:24] Betsy: I don't think anything really shocks me that much anymore, except for like, Joey, what's your favorite kind of music? And he's like, hip hop. I'm like, really? Really? And then what's your just recently we're doing, I did a video about this 'cause I was like, we need to get another book on tape.

[00:37:41] Betsy: What subject do you want me to get it on? And he's like a romcom. Like a romcom. Are you kidding me? And he loves it, by the way. We're listening to a great Abby, him and as Romcom, and he's like loving every second of it. And [00:38:00] so I think it's I think the thing that probably surprises me the most is how hard and how much he's trying. But here something that I would say that I had to have my awakening moment with in that I, joey is putting insane amounts of effort into getting his body to do something he's typically disconnected from as he goes to each letter. That is an incredible struggle because he's so disconnected from being able to tell his finger to go exactly where it's supposed to go, and it's only been through tremendous practice over and over again that he's now able to do it.

[00:38:49] Betsy: But it's exhausting what I feel as his mom is, as somebody who I know prefers the method of [00:39:00] telepathy as a form of communication, because that's easy for him, that comes naturally to him. I'm certain that even in all of these years, telepathy has been a big part of our lives. I just couldn't, you know, wrote it off as my intuition or I just really know my son, but I'm sure he's told me things a lot along the way that I've just didn't realize was actually telepathy. But I feel that my obligation is that if he's gonna work that hard to connect with me on a letter board, then I need to work equally as hard to quiet my mind so that I can be a part of his telepathic world more. It's not fair of me to ask him to jump through the hoops if I'm not willing to jump through the hoops and just like him practicing one letter at a time. I have to practice through meditation, through stillness, through quieting my monkey mind whenever [00:40:00] possible, and receive the messages from him so that he's not always having to do the only communication and start to trust that I'm getting from him is actually his communication way of his preferred method of communication.

[00:40:16] Brenda: Oh, that is just so beautiful does that sound familiar, Cathy? That we need to, I just love that to quiet ourselves. I listen 

[00:40:22] Cathy: the whole time. Just now, as you know, and I know parallel you're doing it too. Parallels. Parallels. But really it's really true and you know, because obviously right, communication's just so important however it is. And you know, how do we, Brenda and I in our families, how we try to communicate with our kids and I would say the words being still or quiet or just actively trying to listen. That wasn't part of any of my vocabulary 10 years ago. Right it is today and I'm so grateful for it but you're right. I mean, it just, [00:41:00] it's really true. If we want that, we also need to practice so hard and use those tools over and over and oh, I just love that. I love that and yeah telepathy though it is difficult. I mean, yes, you said quiet your mind meditation, but it could kind of be different for everybody, right, to tap into that. Dimension, I guess you would call it, right?

[00:41:30] Betsy: It can be, I mean, it's who we are. 

[00:41:32] Cathy: Mm-hmm. 

[00:41:32] Betsy: It's how we started the podcast was talking about the fact that it's the time to know because we're all born with this ability but we've conditioned ourselves away from it.

[00:41:42] Betsy: Mm-hmm. That's, the sadness of it is that we get told, you know, listen to me, listen to me. Don't trust your own intuition. I mean, teach, the greatest gift you could ever give a child is to teach them to trust their intuition, because the universe doesn't steer them wrong. [00:42:00] The universe guides them in beautiful directions.

[00:42:03] Betsy: But the problem is they learn to trust others rather than their own intuition. And then they lose such sight of who they really are that they can't connect to who they are anymore because they no longer know who they are. So when we returned back to how we were originally came out as babies in the sense of a surrender of we're going to be guided. We're gonna get the clues, we're gonna get the breadcrumbs, whatever it is mm-hmm to lay it out before us. Like we are gonna get the therapist to move to Bellingham so that you could start going once a week. Like those are the kinds of things that happen when you surrender.

[00:42:43] Betsy: Right. Controlling brings nothing. It delivers nothing. 

[00:42:49] Brenda: Okay, I want you to say that again. Controlling brings nothing. It delivers nothing. It delivers nothing because it's so selfish. 

[00:42:59] Betsy: [00:43:00] Because what I tell people all the time in my close friend circle is that, so you think you know better than God or the universe, whatever you wanna say, you think that you've got a better idea of what is should unfold.

[00:43:17] Betsy: And like who are you to think that you've got a better idea? Like that's what control is. Control is, I know how it should be and this is how it should be, as opposed to, we are going to let go and we are going to let everybody's story unfold in the way that their story needs to be unfolded. 

[00:43:38] Brenda: Yeah.

[00:43:38] Betsy: And know that we aren't responsible for every piece of their story that they, and the more we get in the way of the story, you have to wait 30 years before you hear your son's voice. I mean, that's getting in the way of the story. That's not listening. I did have clues years ago to do stuff like something like this, [00:44:00] but I know better, but I know better.

[00:44:01] Brenda: Right. 

[00:44:02] Betsy: Well, and others know better, right? Yeah. The doctor knows better or the Exactly. 

[00:44:06] Brenda: Yeah, it's, and I think you have to be really careful to not lay a lot of guilt on yourself. Right. Truly. 'cause that doesn't get anywhere. Especially when you have a son who says, it's all good, mom, no worries. Yeah, let's just move forward.

[00:44:19] Brenda: Has he listened to the. Tele tape. Yes. He enjoyed it. He, 

[00:44:23] Betsy: I mean, he, he kinda giggled through it. It was probably like, duh. 

[00:44:27] Cathy: Yeah, 

[00:44:29] Betsy: he did. And he went, we told him, and I told him We're going to Atlanta. He said he was excited to connect with his telepathic comrades. 

[00:44:38] Cathy: So 

[00:44:38] Betsy: he was love, he was pretty darn excited for it.

[00:44:42] Brenda: Yeah. That's amazing. How, so you said you're working on, you're putting in the work just like he put puts in the work, doing your meditation and all of that? Yeah. Have you had any glimmers of connection with him? Absolutely. You would say like, yes, 

[00:44:57] Betsy: it's working. I, and I tell him like, [00:45:00] I'll be in the kitchen and he want, I do something.

[00:45:02] Betsy: I go, by the way, I just want you to know I heard you through that. That was I got that. Like, mom, close that cabinet. It's bothering me or something like that. Like I said, I'll say, Joey, I heard you. I want him to know that it, that I'm working on it. Yeah. And that I'm doing what I can and that I respect that all the effort that he's putting in.

[00:45:22] Betsy: I thank him every day for spelling and jumping through my hoops in order to communicate with us mortal strange individuals who walk this earth pain in the neck, tried to control our lives, 

[00:45:35] Brenda: pain in the neck. People that we gotta actually like, use words and letters. Wes so crazy. It's so crazy.

[00:45:42] Betsy: This is, this is where. If you wanna hear a terminology that I can't say that I've coined it. I don't know. I mean, I haven't heard it, but I've been using it. I, maybe I coined it, but my whole thing is this is not nonverbal. The kids like my son Joey, the [00:46:00] telepathic ones, they are post verbal. I like that.

[00:46:07] Betsy: Yeah. I like that. They don't, they don't need the words anymore. Yeah. Yeah, that's, so it's just, it's in the way. Can you imagine what our world is going to be like when we all can focus on telepathy? Because here's the thing that I'm excited about. People are like, oh, aren't you worried that you know the government's going to use it?

[00:46:23] Betsy: I'm like, no. Here, here, here's where I, here's where I don't buy that. What I believe in is that inauthenticity will not be able to survive. No, because telepathy is only gonna deliver what your feeling is. You can say, you can use AI to create a bunch of words. You can use your teleprompter and give some big speech.

[00:46:49] Betsy: You can do all these other things to be able to say the words that you think the people want to hear. But when telepathy comes back, it's authenticity or bust, right? [00:47:00] If you don't, if you're not authentic. Everyone's just gonna realize, you know, that's not real. Yeah. And so, so-called truths and all of these other things are going to get to be exposed in a way that we're going to know.

[00:47:18] Betsy: And so the, this beautiful post verbal world is going to be magnificent. Yeah. 

[00:47:28] Brenda: Well, it already is. I mean, you know, I was at a restaurant just last weekend and there was a non-speaking, what I assumed to be autistic young man who was with somebody, maybe his dad, and they were ordering some food and it was so beautiful because the guy behind the counter who was young, he wasn't.

[00:47:50] Brenda: You know, I would say he was in his twenties, he was talking with the, this non-speaking young man, just like he was anybody else. Like he was like, oh, I love that. Hey bro, [00:48:00] do you want some fries with that? Like he was, and so I almost wanted to ask him, have you listened to talk? 

[00:48:07] Cathy: I'm kind of surprised you didn't.

[00:48:08] Brenda: I know. I'm surprised. I didn't either, but it made me so happy because it made me realize that people are waking up to this. I know. People are starting to see that just because somebody's outward body isn't looking like theirs and doesn't look normal, that doesn't mean that they're not there. And I just can't help but keep making these parallels back to our kids who are trying so hard to communicate with us that they are putting themselves in danger every day by putting these substances in their body to wave the flag of hello

[00:48:46] Brenda: something is not right. I am in here and you are not seeing me, and I need help. And we tell them that they're bad and we tell them that they're difficult and [00:49:00] we send them away to institutions. And I'm not ragging on the treatment community at all, but they're, see what I'm, it's like, oh my gosh, our kids are in there, but we have to be willing to do the work to find them and understand why are you in so much pain that you will put a substance in your body that is very likely to kill you, 

[00:49:25] Cathy: right? 

[00:49:25] Betsy: And it's heartbreaking. And to not make that pain of what you know, and I know you don't do this, but not to make that point of pain about what are you doing to me?

[00:49:34] Betsy: That is my pain, 

[00:49:36] Cathy: right? Because 

[00:49:37] Betsy: the. Anytime we really wanna help our children, whether it's through autism or in your situations, that the one thing we do have control over is ourselves. 

[00:49:49] Cathy: Yes. 

[00:49:50] Betsy: Is how we can change the way we think that we can decide to live in a place with less [00:50:00] anger and with disapproval and to let go. So we always, and I'm sure you talk about this all the time on the show, but it's no different than with autism. Our kids are so in tuned to authenticity that we have to stop this charade of being in a victim hood situation that, oh, well I can't possibly do this because my life is so hard, and look what you've done to me and you know, look,

[00:50:27] Betsy: I don't buy any of that. We're all here in this body experience to be the best that we can be. And it doesn't matter what anybody else is doing, it's only the, we are the only ones that we are responsible for. And whoever shows up and connects with us in this lifetime, then that might be, but we have to let go of those that we can't control and we have to work on ourselves.

[00:50:51] Betsy: And that's really kind of the beginning and end of it. Work on ourselves. And help teach intuition and love, and [00:51:00] love and love, and let people figure things out because my son, without any knowledge, found a hill and connected there and it's like never got instructions for that one. So surrender is truly the most beautiful place to be.

[00:51:17] Betsy: Oh my gosh. 

[00:51:18] Brenda: Well, I can't think of a more perfect wrap up for this conversation. It could go on and on and on. I know we have to let Cathy go. She's, she's got parent duty coming up here. I do have parent duty, but excuse me, Betsy, this was. So incredible and I can't wait to see the documentary when it comes out.

[00:51:37] Brenda: We'll make sure and put links in the show notes to all of Betsy's work to obviously the podcast if you're not already listening to it while we're talking about here, they've got one podcast in this year, one in this year probably. Yeah. And I would love to stay in touch 'cause I do think absolutely

[00:51:54] Brenda: it's just such an interesting dynamic with our kids and clearly we have so much [00:52:00] in common that we could talk about. So thank you for joining us. 

[00:52:03] Betsy: I appreciate it much. Thank you so 

[00:52:05] Brenda: much. Thank you.



[00:00:00] Brenda: Okay, my friend. Well, if that wasn't enough, I have just one more little thing for you today on Betsy's website, she shares a poem that she wrote called The Silent Ones. I was in tears by the time I was finished reading this. It's so beautifully captures what we're now learning about. Incredible people like Joey and I believe could only come from a mother's heart.

I also thought that with one or two small changes in words, this could be a poem about our kids. I wanted to share it with you and with Betsy's blessing. Here it is.

The silent ones, there are those who came to earth cloaked in silence, but not because they could not speak because they did not need to. Joey is one of them, one of the silent ones, the telepathic tribe, the ones who hum in harmonic resonance across great distances. Who speak in frequency, who encode love in geometry and gaze, who never lost the memory of source.

In a world that labels by lack, he is not nonverbal. He is post verbal. He's not behind. He is ahead. A soul spun of sapphire light. Who agreed to hold the template for a time when the world would remember how to listen without needing sound. I once cried out, why did this happen to me? But now I stand in awe, not because Joey changed, but because I did. 

I began to see what my soul already knew, that I was entrusted with a stellar one. And that this so-called disability was never a punishment, but a prophecy

for every mother who wonders every father, who fears every teacher, who cannot comprehend. The silent ones were always the highest. They are not to be pitied. They are to be honored. They came encoded with the original language of light. Joey's DNA is not damaged. It is designed before incarnation. His soul agreed to weave his biology in a way that would disable societal conformity, but amplify celestial coherence.

His silence is not absence, it is signal. He carries the Song of Source in Scalor pulses, not sentences. His mitochondria emit tones that resonate with others of his kind. They find each other not by words, but by frequency.

What has caused autism? The truth is deeper than many are ready to accept. External toxins may have catalyzed and already agreed upon divergence, but they did not cause Joey's soul encoding. This was pre-written. This was sacred. He is not the result of error. He is a living signal from a more advanced octave of human evolution to the mother whose heart broke and mended in the same breath.

You were chosen for this, not because you were perfect, but because you were strong enough to become sacred. You are the bridge between worlds. You are the translator of light. Your grief was the cocoon, but your awe is the wings.

My message to parents do not look for milestones in the books they were never written for them. Look, instead at the way the star shimmer when they smile at the way your own soul has awakened because they came through your body. To remind you who you really are.

Your child is not broken. He or she is encoded and now so are you.

Thank you, Betsy, and thank you Joey.

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Brenda Zane

Host
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Betsy Hicks-Russ

Guest