When I read the article I was bothered (at first). How many of us have heard a teacher tell us "they're not really reading," when we, as parents, know that out they are, really.
In defense of the author (and I'm only talking about my DS), there are strong "decoders." My DS7 has strong technical skills, but his stamina and comprehension lag about 1-2 years behind those skills (and still a few years ahead of first grade). The decoding (again, my opinion) is part of DS's giftedness. We don't worry about it- but for purely selfish reasons, I'm not handing him the Hobbit (I want him to love it!) until we can have a meaningfully discussion about the themes.
It was actually the author's condescending tone toward decoders that got me--a kid who can read (even at "only" a technical level) a book like "Harry Potter" at six, and accurately pronounce words meant for fifth grade and up, has some gifts (probably in memory and phonetic skills) that should be tapped.
