I couldn’t disagree more. I, like many voracious readers not only didn’t learn to read phonetically, but we lack the internal monologue that phonics forces. In my case it occurred naturally, but truly good readers share on thing in common: No internal monologue when reading. If memory serves me correctly, it’s almost impossible to exceed something in the neighborhood of 300wpm while sub-vocalizing, which by necessity is forced by a phonetic approach to reading.
I believe the subvocalizing thing is a myth. As you process the letters faster, you no longer say the letters, if you ever did.
A pianist doesn’t think, That’s a C, use the first finger to hit that key.
As part of trying to drive phonics out of existence, the Education Establishment told a lot of lies.