A (very interesting) critical review of a pro-FC book. Below are some excerpts (apparently, this version of FC is called S2C). Note that the extraordinary skills of the "type 3 autists" are patently absurd...unless we assume that the cause is supernatural/paranormal. Which may explain why some factions of the FC movement has morphed into an outright New Age cult!
>>>In addition, we’re supposed to accept the usual claims about sudden manifestations of literacy, of prior knowledge, and of prior academic skills. From the moment Jamison starts S2C, his spelling is perfect. He types out “popcorn”, “movies”, and “cracker jacks”—even though, “because of Jamie’s diet, the kid has never seen a box of Cracker Jacks in his life.” He already knows—because he types it out—that “herbivore” is the “opposite of carnivore”.
>>>And, though Handley tells us that Jamison has shown no prior signs of being able to do math, it turns out he already knows basic arithmetic so well that he is able to quickly progress through algebra to calculus. (His letterboard “helper” for calculus also happens to be his calculus tutor).
>>>Jamison also already knows Spanish. As Handley explains in an interview with “Dr. Jack” (the prominent anti-vaxxer James Lyons-Weiler, PhD, who has most recently spoken out against the Covid vaccine), “Jamie’s Spanish is very good because his brother and sister took it in school and they would drill in front of him.”
(...)
>>>Occam’s Razor favors an alternative account. While experienced helpers are experienced at sending cues to spellers, novice parents take a while to get there. Novice spellers are less responsive even to the cues of experienced helpers; the three boards are at first a necessary supplement to those cues.
>>>Finally, what looks like sudden literacy, including the ability to spell words never seen before like “cracker jack,” unexpected stores of prior knowledge (herbivore), and arithmetic skills that were mastered without any active practice—all of which completely defies everything we know about how children learn things—all this output is actually authored (presumably subconsciously) by the helpers.
>>>Or, to summarize this alternative account in two words: “Clever Hans.”
Review of J B Handley´s Underestimated