De Facto Leaders · 2026-06-24 · 52 min
Are we really “overteaching” phonics, or should there be a hard stopping point where it’s not taught past a certain grade? Are current stories trending on popular news outlets aligned with best practices for supporting dyslexic learners? Is the public becoming more educated on how we learn to read, write, and spell? I invited my colleague, Lori Josephson, an author, consultant, and former teacher to discuss these questions. In this episode, we discuss: Common literacy “urban legends”, including “Dyslexia is seeing words backwards” and “look at the picture and guess the word” Why phonics gets a bad wrap and where the Science of Reading is often misunderstood Handwriting, keyboarding, and how they relate to neural connections Making instruction more effective by integrating language, print, spelling, and executive functioning instead of siloing. Lori Josephson is an Author, Dyslexia Specialist, and Educational Consultant who is a Fellow of the Orton-Gillingham Academy, a retired Wilson Language Trainer, and holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education-Learning Disabilities.
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