Reading troubles.

Remember we talked about how literal and strict my thinking can be? This is a good example of how it can make things harder for me.
I am trying to learn how to read. I have until now been learning sight words. Now though people are trying to teach me phonics and how to read that way. I am stuck. I know my phonics pretty well. I can tell you what an S says. But I just cant connect that with words. Letters and their sounds are all together separate from words. Words are words and letters are letters.