I don’t know about this sight thing, but all reading is shape recognition. No one looks at all the letters in a word as they read.
Some years ago when Ham Radio licenses required proficiency in Morse Code, there were three different levels of proficiency that could be demonstrated.
The lowest level was 5 words-per-minute, which is approximately one letter every two seconds. At this speed, a person can just about count the dots and dashes to determine which letters make up a word.
The next level of proficiency was 13 words-per-minute. At this speed, a person must recognize the pattern of dots and dashes which make up a particular letter without having the time to count the dots and dashes.
Finally, at 20 words-per-minute, a person must hear the sound of complete words or syllables. There isn't time to recognize each and every letter.
Those levels of proficiency described above are a natural progression in skill levels. I can't even imagine the frustration that a person might feel if they were required to attempt understanding Morse Code at 20 words-per-minute if they have not passed through the lower skill levels.
I believe that reading English is similar. One starts by recognizing individual letters and sounds. One then progresses to learning the appearance of whole words, including some which are only slightly phonetic. Mature readers will recognize whole words and phrases and the more advanced readers will not even hear themselves thinking of the sounds of the words. Such a reader simply understands the meaning of the words and phrases withou any attention to the sounds.
Reading , writing, and speaking are intertwined. You need the phonics to hear the sound and relate to the letter combination. Even after many decades, if I see an unfamiliar word, I break it down into syllables to sound it out. Once you become familiar with a word, you can speed up the reading seeing the whole word. You need to know the building blocks of words - letters and syllables to learn literacy.