Voices & perspectives

Guest: Julia Mossbridge, PhD — cognitive neuroscientist, author, and educator (Northwestern postdoc background; work in cognitive neuroscience, computer science, and AI). She discusses research on time, intuition, and what she calls exceptional human performance.

Autism-related discussion (summary): In the second half of the conversation, Mossbridge connects language development to how the brain may filter or suppress other kinds of information. She describes working with teams that support non-speaking autistic youth (communication via letterboards or keyboards, as featured in projects such as Telepathy Tapes). She shares a hypothesis that less active use of left frontal speech areas may correlate with reports of telepathy-like experiences, distraction by sensory or social information, and difficulty staying in the "here and now." Rogan asks whether spellers have documented information they could not have known; she says yes and references controlled trials with targets in separate rooms. She also compares small neural differences in "singing mice" to possible gradations between non-speaking autism, speaking autism, and neurotypical communication — framing differences as degree, not a missing capacity.

This is one long-form perspective on contested science and communication methods. It is not medical or educational advice; families should consult qualified clinicians and educators for support decisions.