Open letter to Ky Dickens
This is a copy of an email I’ve sent to the The Telepathy Tapes podcast. I journalled it out yesterday as I felt so uncomfortable with the decision to have a discussion with Mayim Bialik.
Dear Ky,
I found the Telepathy Tapes through Glennon Doyle, who recommended the podcast in a newsletter. I have volunteered a lot of my time providing respite care to families with teens on the autistic spectrum. Many of whom were non-speakers; many we knew who were in there, but didn’t have access to spelling, AAC technology including word boards, for anyone to do anything more than meet their basic needs.
One teen I met regularly was suddenly in such a different frame of mind, so angry and disruptive in her behaviour, she was not herself. Previous activities that gave her pleasure were dismissed, she was increasingly difficult to manage on our outings. Agitated, anxious, tearful – it took weeks for her parents to get a GP to run some simple diagnostic tests, because ‘of course she was difficult, she was non-verbal’. This teen had a rampant UTI, was in agony and after a few rounds of antibiotics was back to her sunny, happy self.
Our son has dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, a speech processing delay and also is AuDHD. He is in a mainstream school, as while he struggles in the classroom; he’s vocal, able to concentrate in short spurts and for the most part his teachers meet him where he is. Mr A is a joy in my life, he’s been my little Jedi Master from day one. Constantly teaching me that I am enough, as I am.
Working with his teachers on classroom adaptations, I realised that some would have been useful for me too. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 48 years old, technically I don’t meet the criteria for autism diagnosis, being 2 points below the threshold. I have learned to live with my textural and sensory issues, while being tested the only thing I could think of was how I struggle with elastic bands. Had I not been paying for the testing time by the hour, I could have spent more time thinking about how loud the world is for me. How much other people’s noises impact my equilibrium – including, (but not limited to) eating, phone calls on speakers, muzak in lifts.
I am sharing this with you deliberately because I want you to understand how overjoyed I was with finding non-speakers finding their voices and sharing their experiences. I was looking forward the movie coming out too.
Yesterday, I unfollowed the podcast and removed all the downloads from my phone. Because there is also a strong ethical and equity portion to being neurodivergent. We struggle to live with other people’s decisions that do not align with ours. This is deeper than if you can eat coriander or not, but if you recognise inequity in the system, it is almost like a wound that never heals.
Of all the guests you could have had on the show, to actively select and book Mayim Bialik was an irresponsible and poor choice. I am also requesting that you remove the episode from the program feed completely.
After Israel’s invasion, citing Hamas as their reason for the instigation of their actions, Mayim Bialik shared a video on instagram laughing at an Israeli comedian doing a bit laughing at the deaths of Palestinian children.
Israel’s ongoing assault and genocide towards the Palestinian people and country is happening on our watch. A country is being obliterated, funded by countries around the world who subsidise Israel’s following the holocaust through legacy treaties. These billions are being siphoned into direct action to persecute and annihilate another group of people. ‘Never again’ doesn’t just mean antisemitism, it meant against every minority group the Nazi’s tried to rid from the world. However, Netanyahu is relying on Zionists to condone his actions – directly under the guise that ANY criticism is anti-semitic.
I do not have the words to express that from Australia, where the persecution of First Nations people happens daily; but not even three weeks after the Bondi terrorist attack on the 14 December 2025, a Royal Commission was launched to investigate antisemitism and social cohesion.
What happened in Bondi was abhorrent and I am not condoning it, but persecution takes many forms. Including being dismissive of people’s ability to communicate their needs and finding ways to adapt and change how we interact with each other.
Genocide is on another level of hatred and dismissiveness. Why spruik and give airtime to someone who defends Israeli continued action towards babies and children in an effort to stamp out a population? Zionism and antisemitism are different. You can also condemn the actions of Netenyahu and remain Jewish. Recognising and relating to the religion and texts; Jewish leaders and Rabbis the world over are speaking out against Netenhayu.
If it was just about Hamas, it would have been over by now. But it’s not. For those angry white men having their pissing contest to line their pockets and inflate their egos while we struggle to communicate over and over with them that their actions are wrong, is ironic.
Asserting dominance and ignoring human rights by shutting people away in institutions, or holding power over is what has kept the entire differently abled community at arm’s length for centuries. Working through problems together with adaptive technology, including spelling, set some of our great thought leaders free.
The world is waking up to injustice in a way like never before as we watch in real time. Voting districts and criteria in the US are being rewritten, because if they weren’t scared of the outcomes, they wouldn’t need changing to make it harder for people to access their democratic rights.
Giving Mayim Bialik airtime on the Telepathy Tapes means I can no longer engage with your content. I have to vote with my voice, time and attention. Again, please remove the episode from your feed. The repercussions from airing it may well still be unfolding; by choosing her over any other neuroscientist the world over, may undo all the work you have done to support an already marginalised group.