Listening Beyond Words, Amy and Peter’s story

Amy is a 56-year-old mum walking this path with her 25-year-old son, Peter.

Her voice is steady, practical, and quietly hopeful, shaped by decades of lived experience.

This conversation shares her journey, in her own words.

Amy and her son Peter

Q. Can you take us back to a moment that feels important in your journey with Peter?

Probably the most important shift has been this past year, after first listening to the Telepathy Tapes.

Before that, we had already started spelling, which was eye-opening and amazing on its own. Then through the tapes I met other mums, and also some people who could communicate with Peter.

The way it all happened felt really synchronistic. Someone my husband worked with knew someone else, who then connected me to a woman who lives on the other side of the country. It just lined up in a way that didn’t feel random.

At first, I was sceptical. I didn’t want to open him up to anything that didn’t feel safe or godly.

But then one night she communicated with him and wrote down everything he was saying. We did some Zoom calls after that. Peter sat right beside me the whole time.

And he never sits still.

He’s usually moving, following his routines, always doing something. But he just sat there, calm and attentive.

That’s when I knew something real was happening.

Learning who Peter really is inside, how brilliant he is, how much he understands, that he’s here for a reason and even chose us, that’s been the most profound part of all this.

Q. Did that change how you saw him?

Oh yes. Completely.

For 24 years I assumed he didn’t understand language very much. That’s what we were told.

I’d never even heard the word apraxia.

So we spoke to him in small, simple commands. Routine language. Because I thought he didn’t understand.

Now I know he understands everything.

Everything.

Sometimes things I don’t even know about.

It’s humbling to realise how wrong I was.

Amy with sons Will and Peter

Q. Peter seems to have stepped into quite a big role around AI and consciousness. How did you feel when that started happening?

It’s still shocking and hard to wrap my mind around.

Because day to day, I’m still bathing him, brushing his teeth, shaving his face. All the practical care.

Then suddenly, through Mich Carpenter, who speaks the thoughts she receives from him, he’s on these calls sounding eloquent, heart-filled, guiding neuroscientists and quantum physicists.

I know nothing about AI. I’m just sitting there watching this happen.

But he speaks to people individually, tells them why they’re here, encourages them, and knows personal things about them that no one else knows.

It’s mind-blowing.

But it’s also given me hope.

I’m 56 and he’s 25. You always wonder what happens when you’re gone.

Now I feel like he knows the way.

So I don’t carry the same fear anymore.

Q. What does everyday life look like for you right now?

Our biggest challenge is his rigid routines and OCD behaviours.

As soon as he walks in the door, he starts searching.

He’ll look in the trash, peel labels off things, take stickers off, organise everything. If we get the mail and he sees stamps or labels, we’re suddenly cutting and ripping everything perfectly. He’ll search cabinets and bathrooms looking for something specific.

It takes up a lot of time.

If something isn’t how he expects, he gets overwhelmed fast.

Those are the hard days.

It can feel like walking on eggshells.

For years I’ve lived in fight-or-flight, sleeping lightly, always alert. I didn’t even realise I wasn’t breathing properly until recently.

So now I’m working on my own healing too, my nervous system, my energy.

If I’m calmer, he’s calmer.

He feels everything.

Amy and husband George, with Peter

Q. What support do you wish families like yours had more of?

Definitely more guidance.

No one walks you through what happens as they get older. You have to figure everything out yourself.

Each state is different. You’re always searching for the needle in the haystack.

Peter goes to a day programme he enjoys, which helps. But adult services are limited.

It feels like once they age out, they don’t matter anymore.

I wish someone had said, “Here’s what you’ll need. Here’s how we help you.”

And I wish more people understood that what you see on the outside isn’t what’s on the inside.

They’re misunderstood, not incapable.

There’s so much more there.

Q. What are you hoping for this year and for the future?

Personally, I hope Peter opens up on the boards so I can hear his voice directly.

And I hope the world wakes up.

Not just about autism, but about love.

Less separation. Less politics. Less division.

More connection. More heart.

That’s what this is really about.

That’s what our kids are here to teach us.

Peter plays basketball and scores