In January 2025, Jesse Michels’ YouTube show American Alchemy sat down with The Telepathy Tapes creator Ky Dickens and psychiatrist Dr Diane Hennacy Powell. It has been watched more than a million times. Dr Powell trained at Johns Hopkins, taught at Harvard Medical School, and has spent more than a decade studying non-speaking autistic children who she believes show telepathic ability. Her work hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, and critics question her methods. I think what she’s doing is remarkable.
If The Telepathy Tapes is the story, Dr Diane Hennacy Powell is the scientist at the centre of it. And the conversation that brought her to millions of people was this one.
Who is Dr Diane Hennacy Powell?
She’s a neuroscientist and psychiatrist. She studied neuroscience at Ohio State, got her medical degree at Johns Hopkins in 1983 and trained there in neurology and psychiatry, then taught at Harvard Medical School in the late 1980s. In 2009 she wrote The ESP Enigma, a book making the scientific case for psychic phenomena.
Haley
In 2013 she was sent three home videos of Haley, a nine-year-old non-speaking autistic girl, who seemed to know things she shouldn’t. Powell set up recorded sessions. A therapist looked at random numbers, words, made-up words and pictures that Haley couldn’t see, and Haley spelled out answers on a letter board. Powell reported very high hit rates, sometimes perfect.
That’s the story that started everything that followed, including The Telepathy Tapes.
What it cost her
In late 2010, after her ESP book came out, her medical licence was suspended. It was reinstated at the board’s next meeting in January 2011. She believes the book was the reason. She retired from practice in 2024 to research full time, founded the Hennacy Institute in Oregon in 2025, and has another book, Wired for the Impossible, planned for 2027.
The Hill, in a nutshell
If you only have twelve minutes, this clip is where Jesse Michels talks about “the Hill”, the place the Telepathy Tapes kids describe meeting.
What the critics say
- Powell’s Haley results appeared in parapsychology conference proceedings and magazines, not a peer-reviewed journal.
- In some sessions a helper holds the letter board or sits close by. Critics say that can’t rule out the helper unconsciously guiding the answers, a problem a 2001 review found with facilitated communication.
- Speech pathology bodies such as ASHA say communication should be independent, and oppose methods where another person holds the board.
- Supporters point to studies, including a 2020 eye-tracking study, suggesting some non-speakers look at the right letters before they point. The science isn’t settled.
Where I land
I’m genuinely impressed by Diane Hennacy Powell. She put her reputation on the line to follow something she couldn’t explain, and she’s kept going. That takes guts.
I love the subject of consciousness, and I’m open to the possibility. Some things have happened between Eden and me that I can’t explain, and I find myself leaning further towards it all the time.
I’m not telling anyone it’s real. I’m saying I can’t explain some of it. And the message underneath all of this, that these kids are in there, I know is true.
If you’ve read my post on The Telepathy Tapes and the Hill, this is the deeper dive.
Worth knowing
Medical degree from Johns Hopkins (1983), training in neurology and psychiatry, then faculty at Harvard Medical School 1987 to 1989.
Psi EncyclopediaThe ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena, 2009.
Psi EncyclopediaThe year she began recorded sessions with Haley, a nine-year-old non-speaking autistic girl.
Psi EncyclopediaLicence suspended late 2010, reinstated January 2011. She says it was because of her book.
Psi EncyclopediaRetired from practice in 2024. Founded the Hennacy Institute in Oregon in 2025. New book planned for 2027.
Psi Encyclopediaviews of the American Alchemy episode on YouTube.
YouTube, Nov 2026Questions people ask
Who is Dr Diane Hennacy Powell?
A Johns Hopkins-trained psychiatrist and former Harvard Medical School faculty member who studies consciousness and claims of telepathy in non-speaking autistic children. She wrote The ESP Enigma (2009) and features in The Telepathy Tapes.
Has Diane Hennacy Powell's telepathy research been peer reviewed?
Her Haley results were presented at a Parapsychological Association conference and in magazines, but not in a peer-reviewed journal. Critics say the testing couldn’t rule out the helper guiding the answers.
Where can I watch Jesse Michels' Telepathy Tapes episode?
On the American Alchemy YouTube channel: “These Children Can Read Your Mind!” with Ky Dickens and Dr Diane Powell, released January 2025.
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Sources
- American Alchemy with Jesse Michels, These Children Can Read Your Mind! (ft. Ky Dickens) (7 January 2025).
- Psi Encyclopedia (Society for Psychical Research), Diane Hennacy Powell.
- Jefferson Public Radio, Medford psychiatrist’s research into autism and telepathy sparks debate over communication (2 May 2025).
- Wikipedia, The Telepathy Tapes.
