Actually the expert is unknown. It wasn't Paul. What gives you the impression it was Paul? See his comments
http://www.learningstrategies.com/PhotoReading/NASAA close look at the study it is testing for speed reading of 25,000 wpm. PhotoReading is not reading at 25,000 wpm. The expert did not agree to participate in all the experiments.
Learning Strategies has done plenty of studies. I had discussed this with Paul back in 2004. He pointed out, Any study involving human subjects are subjective. Any research done by Learning Strategies is considered biased.
As to PhotoReading being a legitimate reading system. It is. For the license to teach PhotoReading the system was checked out and a license granted in 1986.
It's a pity that it's difficult to promote PhotoReading without it seeming like a gimmick. I'd love to be teaching this to students as they enter High school. The kids really fly with the system. Mostly because they haven't spent years already doing it the hard way. Which is great for learning to read but limiting for the amount of reading that is out there these days.
Check out the front page of the PhotoReading book and experiment with it as suggested on the PhotoReading book.
Alex