Enough is Enough – The Gatekeeping Must Stop
After more than 15 years tutoring dyslexic and struggling readers one-on-one – watching kids light up when confusion clears and they finally read fluently – I'm done holding back.
I've poured my observations into this blog since 2010, only to face silence, blocks, and herd-like defensiveness from the "experts" in the Science of Reading (SoR) and structured literacy world. Parents are desperate, kids are suffering needless disengagement, and yet the echo chambers on Twitter/X rage on, protecting egos, products, and flawed dogmas. It's time to call it out plainly: We're creating "dysteachia" – preventable reading failure through poor instruction – and mislabeling it as incurable dyslexia. And the gatekeeping? It's a big disservice to every child who could thrive with simpler, common-sense fixes.
The Core Problem: Confusion from Wrong Instruction, Not "Neurological Deficits"
I've taught over 80 kids who read effortlessly in transparent languages like Malay or romanized Mandarin/Han Yu Pin Yin, but "shut down" in English. Why? Not because English is uniquely "opaque" or because of some innate phonological awareness deficit. It's dysteachia: Teaching consonant sounds with extraneous "uh" noises (luh-ah-muh-buh for "lamb," Duh-ah-guh for "dog") confuses young brains. Tell me – how does a child mentally blend "luhahmuhbuh" into "lamb" without disengaging? This nonsense persists because educators cling to sunk-cost fallacies: They've invested years (and reputations) in these methods, so admitting error feels impossible.
Brain scans show reading changes the brain – yes, we know. But they tell us nothing about how kids learn to read. Explicit clean phonics works wonders, yet many programs add those confusing sounds, and proponents dismiss evidence (like my videos of kids thriving without them) as "anecdotal." Meanwhile, millions learned fluently during whole-language eras, self-correcting by grades 4-6 via innate patterns and analogies. Today? About 20% leave school functionally illiterate, even in pure phonics schools. We're manufacturing "at-risk" kids through wrong teaching – and then profiting from endless interventions.
Phonics Absolutism and the War on Simple Fixes Like Memorizing High-Frequency Words.
SoR advocates insist phonics is the only "starter motor" for reading – decoding everything, no shortcuts. Orthographic mapping? They claim you must sound out words to map them (Lyn Stone, Stephen Parker). Nonsense. Kids map instantly via rote repetition of letter names (even eyes closed!), patterns, analogies, and context. My dyslexic students master the 220 Dolch words in 3 months by rote – covering 50-70% of any kids' book – leaving little to decode. Yet experts like Melanie Brethour call this a "red flag," unaligned with "research." Kathy Rastle's fallacy? English has 20,000+ words, too many to memorize without phonics. But no one memorizes thousands blindly – kids use analogies (know "bat/cat/hat"? Read "batch," then "catch/hatch" effortlessly).
Claims like "learn 10 sounds to read 26,000 words"? Gullible exaggeration. Chinese kids memorize thousands of characters yearly alongside other languages – memorization is feasible and powerful. Discouraging parents from these practical tools harms desperate families, all to push commercial programs.
The Evasion, Blocks, and Herd Mentality That Blocks Progress
Ask for evidence? Crickets or blocks. I've tagged big names – Mark Seidenberg, Daniel Willingham, Emily Hanford – on brain myths, unanswered MRI claims, disengagement causes. No replies. Dr. Brittney Bills claims schools hit 99% grade-level reading... but won't name them or share data ("I know it's working – I don't need to prove anything to you"). Lyn Stone? No response to direct requests for research on why kids shut down, then blocks. Melanie Brethour, Debbie Hepplewhite, Pamela Snow, Jennifer Buckingham, Faith Borkowsky – the list of blockers grows when I question memorization bans or extraneous sounds.
Twitter swarms with herd mentality: Everyone parrots NYT articles or SoR narratives without independent thought. Only rare voices like Jerusha Beckerman question the hype ("Schools already teach phonics ad nauseum – why the discourse?"). Most wear blinkers, demanding peer-reviewed reports for my 15+ years of tutoring insights while swallowing cherry-picked claims. "My way or the highway" – redirect to private Facebook groups, then expel questioners. How do we progress if dissent is silenced?
As Dr. Wayne Dyer said: "The ultimate ignorance is the rejection of something you know nothing about, yet refuse to investigate." Do not rely on research reports blindly – use your God-given brains. Think for yourselves.
A Better Way Forward: Trust Kids' Brains and Practical Teaching
Stop the disinformation. Teach clean consonant sounds (no extra "uh"). Memorize Dolch words alongside phonics. Encourage patterns, analogies, and context – kids' minds thrive on them. Read aloud, repeat sentences, let discovery happen naturally. I've seen it transform "shut-down" kids into confident readers. No child is beyond reach if we prioritize observation over dogma.
Parents and teachers: You're not idiots. Question the gatekeepers. Demand answers, not blocks. Share successes without fear. Together, we can slash that 20% illiteracy rate – not with more products, but with critical thinking and child-centered teaching.
If this resonates, comment below or share your stories. Let's discuss openly – no blocks here.
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