My Journey Fighting Illiteracy

                                                                

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.

Evening News Jo-Anne Gross – The Blocker Who Sells Phonics Fixes While Silencing Alternatives

 

It’s been years since Jo-Anne Gross first hit the block button on me—LinkedIn, then Twitter (now X). At the time, it stung. But mostly, it felt like a badge of honour. Here was a self-proclaimed remediation expert, founder of Remediation Plus Systems, selling phonics-heavy interventions for dyslexic kids, suddenly deciding my free lessons and alternative views were too dangerous to engage with.

Unblocked After 8 Years: Reviving the Conversation with Robert Pondiscio on Teaching Reading Right

 

Evening edition

I have so many articles on tow. I thought of posting these as a different set. 

It's been over eight years since I first emailed Robert Pondiscio in July 2017, sparked by his review of Mark Seidenberg's Language at the Speed of Sight in Education Next. Back then, I was deep into my self-driven research on why certain kids—smart, multilingual, able to read in Malay and romanized Mandarin—shut down when it came to English. I challenged him on the flaws in teacher training, the wrong way sounds are taught (that dreaded "cuh-ah-tuh" blending), and how confusion leads to disengagement. He responded briefly, promised to watch my example videos (now long deleted from YouTube), but then... silence. No follow-up, despite his book-writing busyness.

The Innate Spark — Why Many Children Can Read Before We Teach Them

Children aren’t broken. Our teaching methods are. Discover why decoding is often innate — and how confusion poisons the path to literacy.

Sections:

🔍 What We’re Missing

• Most children who read do so by figuring it out — even when phonics is taught incorrectly.

• Decoding ≠ comprehension. Let’s stop conflating the two.

🧠 The Brain’s Highway System

• Harvard research shows reading relies on smooth neural pathways.

• Wrong phonics = stoplights. Correct input = free flow.

🚨 Instructional Casualties

• Many “dyslexic” children are victims of confusion, not disorder.

• Early exposure to wrong sounds (TV, kindergarten) blocks natural decoding.

🧒 Real Stories, Real Insight

• My first student learned to read without phonics — just Peter and Jane books.

• I’ve seen children “unlock” reading overnight when confusion is removed.

Call to Action: Let’s stop blaming children. Let’s start fixing instruction. 

Read the full post below

For years, I’ve argued that many children possess an innate ability to decode written language — an ability that’s often overlooked, dismissed, or actively suppressed by flawed teaching methods. This claim has sparked heated debates, especially on Twitter, where educators like Pamela Snow have blocked me rather than engage with the evidence. But the truth remains: many children figure out how to read despite — not because of — formal instruction.

 

🚸 Decoding vs. Comprehension: Let’s Be Precise

When I say “reading,” I’m talking about decoding — the ability to recognize and sound out words. Comprehension is a separate skill, and I leave that to experts in that field. The confusion between these two has led to widespread misunderstanding about what it means to “learn to read.”

The Silencing of Dissent: Why the Dyslexia Establishment Keeps Blocking Me Part 2 of 3

 

Herd Mentality and the Comfort of Consensus

 

Recap: Why They Block

In Part 1, I exposed how my free, results-driven lessons threaten the dyslexia intervention industry. That’s why I’ve been blocked by prominent figures like:

 

Jo Anne Gross

Debbie Hepplewhite

Stacy Hurst

The Silencing of Dissent: Why the Dyslexia Establishment Keeps Blocking Me (Part 1 of 3)

 

Why I am writing This Series

Since 2010, I’ve blogged about reading instruction, dyslexia, and phonics—always grounded in facts and student outcomes. I’ve taught over 80 children labeled as dyslexic, and I’ve shared what works, freely and openly.

This new three-part series marks a shift. It’s not just about methods—it’s about why those methods get blocked.

I’ve been silenced, ignored, and blocked by educators, researchers, and influencers—not because my results are flawed, but because they challenge the consensus. These posts explore the motives behind that resistance: profit, herd mentality, and gatekeeping.

I’m not here to attack individuals. I’m here to ask:

“Why block a question? What does that say about openness to debate?”

If we want to solve illiteracy, we must be willing to confront uncomfortable truths. This series is my invitation to do just that.

It's been years since I first noticed the pattern: educators, researchers, and self-proclaimed literacy experts on Twitter (now X), LinkedIn, and beyond, blocking me not for harassment or threats, but for daring to question their sacred cows. As the founder of free online lessons that have helped dozens of children—many mislabelled as "dyslexic"—read fluently in under four months, I've become a thorn in their side. My crime? Pointing out that phonological awareness deficit isn't the root cause of reading struggles; it's the confusion from teaching consonants with extraneous vowel sounds like "buh" instead of pure /b/. Kids shut down, disengage, and get funneled into expensive interventions. But why block the messenger?

A tweet by Michael Strong and my comments

 

Here is a Tweet I read this morning and commented as I have in hundreds of similar tweets since I joined Twitter.

Michael Strong @flowidealism

If your child is bright, alert, energetic and so forth, and you gradually see the light leaving their eyes, they are starting fewer projects, they are less excited about school, they do not do all the cool things, when they start to be, I don't know, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, pull them out.

Pull them out of traditional schooling and into homeschooling, or join a virtual K-12 school like ours, but don't let the light in their eyes fade.

Kids shutting down (Part 2)

Let’s start with a Twitter thread I read yesterday, 30.10.24, morning. Many parents and teachers complain about kids who fail to read at grade level. Unfortunately, they don’t accept simple solutions. Let us read their comments as a preliminary to ‘Kids Shutting Down’.

 

This is a long post but will prove that teachers worldwide are having kids in grades 4 and above reading at grade one level. Many teachers who are still employed dare not comment as they have been warned by powers that be.

The following was the post commented on.

Beanie @Beanie0597

A 4th grader who can’t read because he wasn’t taught properly doesn’t need “accommodations” to make his illiteracy easier. He needs specific interventions that teach him to read. Otherwise, he’ll just become an illiterate middle & high school student with “accommodations”.

PISA exam revisited – Part 1

 

                                                              Anuar Ahmad from UKM

Here is my Facebook post about Anuar Ahmad dated 23.2.24.

I have been reading some articles by Anuar in Utusan Malaysia. He raises many valid points.

Here is an excerpt from one such article.

Anuar Ahmad 23.2.24

When I give views, isn't my real duty as an academician assigned to conduct research and provide views on implementing the country's education system?

They told me to shut up. I say ok, I'll keep my mouth shut. It's not because I'm afraid, but because I want to fully focus my attention, time, and energy on understanding education issues. I don't want to argue with anyone.

Even my views focus only on the education system issues, not an 'attack' on any individual. I'm silent because I don't want to lose focus to continue sharing education issues with the community.

We all have a collective responsibility to provide sincere ideas and views for improving children's education.

Bridget Nee and her silly notion that Pinyin is not for comprehension.

 

Bridget Nee is from Shanghai and now living in NZ. In Shanghai, she was a teacher.

On 22.7.24 Bridget Nee said the following:

'Forget the news from someone outside of China. Written Characters are the only formal ones in everyday language usage. Pinyin is for the Young kids, mainly as a bridge from oral to written. Don’t blame the teachers!'

I then commented:

I have heard this before. Someone says such silly things on social media and others jump on the bandwagon and repeat it as if it is the Gospel truth.

Is there anyone who thinks that Pinyin is only for young kids?

There were no comments from Bridget Nee or her friends from Shanghai. She said they are all busy making a living.

Behind & Beyond Sold a Story with Emily Hanford - Part 2

                                                                    

The podcast host asked Emily:

Do you read criticisms and have a strategy for that?

Here is Emily’s response:

I don’t have a strategy to articulate. I have developed a thick skin over the years. I have never muted anyone or blocked anyone on Twitter. People can criticise you and you don’t have to respond.

I believe she has not muted anyone or blocked anyone as she has not blocked me despite many comments I have made about her. Neither have I blocked or muted anyone unlike many who have muted and blocked me.

My credentials/achievements

 

Many of the educators on LinkedIn and Twitter ask me for my credentials. So, I thought it best to write and refer them to my post instead of explaining each time I am asked. 

I wonder if what is in the image above can be part of my credential in that I am able to think what has never been thought before about what we see every day. 

It must be part of my credentials as even when I explain it to others they are unable to see it.

To date many educators who read my book Shut Down Kids which describes why kids are unable to read in English but can read in Malay and Pinyin can't accept the reasons I have detailed as to why kids shut down from learning to read. You may read the book reviews.  

Professors are teachers too

 

Here is a blog post entitled ‘Professors are teachers too’ that I read yesterday. It is a very well thought out post and should be read by anyone interested in education. As usual, I have copied a few extracts and added my comments. This is one of the very few blogs where comments appear on the blog without being moderated and removed after being left under moderation for months. 

 

Ask and empower teachers to tell their stories.

The human mind is like the human egg.

 

Let us begin with a tweet directed to Dr. Sam Bommarito and his reply.

To my following tweet on 14.8.23:

I wrote emails to both of them (David Boulton and Andrew Johnson) in 2015. Both refused to accept what I discovered and wanted research reports to support what I discovered. Dr. Sam, do we need research reports for everything? Can't we think logically anymore?

 

Dr. Sam Bommarito @DoctorSam7 responded as follows:

In the world of research, there is the issue of replication. You have to be able to replicate results for them to be significant, replication requires formal studies.  One of the key issues here is. If you use your methods on other children and from other places will they still progress? So the answer is if you want other people from other places to consider your (approach) yes you do have to do research.

Are Dr. Sam Bommarito and the other educators that naive? Part 1

 

I don't believe that Dr. Sam is that naive not to be able to think for himself.

Here are tweets by Dr. Sam Bommarito and my responses.

And Andy Johnson has started a respectful conversation with someone from the "other side". They are doing a series of YouTube posts on this. That's the way science should operate- both sides respectfully listen to each other and then talk about the issue. Hope Andy's example is the start of a trend. This one is the third in the series.  So even though they disagree with each other they are both talking and listening to each other.

Luqman Michel

Did you actually listen to their dialogue? Andrew thinks there is no reading crisis because the graph shows a flat line from 1972 to 2022. David says that NAEP shows that about 60% read below proficiency level.

To me, it appears absurd that one can say there is no reading crisis.

Reading to your children

 

There have been debates on Twitter about reading to children. There are those who say that reading to children helps them to learn to read whilst another group says it does not.

Let us examine this. 

Sounds represented by letters – A revisit

 

Many of the educators on Twitter imagine things instead of trying to understand things as they are.

I have written many blogs stating that one of the main reasons why kids disengage/shut down from learning to read is confusion as a result of teachers teaching the wrong sounds of letters. This is supported in both of Dr. David Kilpatrick’s books. Refer to page 107 of Equipped for Reading Success - How to teach the letter sounds. Also refer to page 171 of Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties - Keys to blending: T does not say /Tuh/.

This was also discovered more than 15 years ago by Children of the Code in which Timothy Shanahan was also interviewed.

The following is an extract from one of the interviews in Children of the Code:

And the mistakes that the kids made guided us to see that we had something missing. For instance, at first, we had them sound out words traditionally. We never permitted "ch-aa-tah” for chat. Unvoiced sounds were unvoiced -- "ch-a-t." Well, they showed us through their responses that, that stop sound beginning was really hard for them. So now we had precise corrections that related to what they had learned earlier. We had a procedure for sounding it out that would reach virtually 100 percent of the kids. So we could teach even really low performers now to take the first step on the ladder. Then they can follow the entire sequence and they can learn at a rate far faster than would have been anticipated. (Siegfried Engelmann)

Divide and Rule by the powers that be.

 

The powers that be are experts in ensuring that this policy of ‘Divide and Rule’ is in place.

The Reading War has been going on for decades and is now stronger than ever between the phonetics and whole word Apostles.

Exponents from both sides keep warring and will not stand to reason. Their minds are like the Human egg. When one sperm goes into the ovum the ovum does not allow another sperm to get in just like the minds of these exponents. 

New York Times and the Science of Reading

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/us/science-of-reading-literacy-parents.html#commentsContainer

I read a report on Science of Reading in the New York Times dated 16.4.2023.

In the entire report there was no definition of the ‘Science of Reading.’

Why do we keep reinventing the wheel and come up with so-called discoveries which do not improve the level of reading?

Here are some extracts from the article in the New York Times and my comments.

New York Times:

The movement, under the banner of “the science of reading,” is targeting the education establishment: school districts, literacy gurus, publishers and colleges of education, which critics say have failed to embrace the cognitive science of how children learn to read.

Learning to read is a natural process – Thinking aloud

                                                                      

This is controversial, but as I said in the heading above I am thinking aloud.

I would define a natural process as a skill that is relatively easy to learn.

Educators on Twitter keep saying that learning to read is NOT a natural process. Pamela Snow copy pastes what others have said – ‘Reading is a human contrivance that has existed for only approximately 6,000 years (Snow, 2016)’.

The statement above ridicules the intelligence of humans. I called it an idiotic statement and a Twitter friend said, “I don't think it is productive to categorise opposing opinions as 'idiotic', especially when those positions are the generally accepted.”