The article addresses this; if your parents had kept you out of school with the explicit goal of guiding you through self-directed study, and actually followed through with that the entire time, you likely would have had a better experience.

Neglect is just, unfortunately, neglect, and I'm sorry you had to go through that.

I really hope you won't continue discouraging homeschooling for your friends' kids. It can clearly be a great experience for a child, if the parents are dedicated to putting in the work to make it so.