Okay, let me back up a step or two. When our son was diagnosed he was put on an R/N program with a corresponding meal plan that reflected the peaks and valleys of the R/N insulin, and we were given a "correction" for those time when his BS was not where it needed to be. Technically, I suppose, we were "counting carbs", because he was limited to X carbs for breakfast, X carbs for snack, X carbs for lunch, X carbs for snack, x carbs for dinner, and x carbs for snack. If we didn't stick to the plan, or if he had a higher level of activity or stress that day, his BS showed accordingly, and we had to adjust. Under this program, he COULDN'T eat cake at a party, because it it would blow his BS out of the water. It was more of a "catching up, responding, and feeling out" sort of program, but still based on the basic premise that "x carbs require x insulin to process" sort of formula. The problem for us was trying to force him to consume (or limiting consumptions of) carbs to accommodate prescribed insulin injections. For a kid, that's really tough. For disciplined adults, it may be more do-able. And, I imagine that after years of living with T1, determining appropriate bolus or injections would become second nature, less a matter of "counting" as of "knowing".
Now our son is on a very flexible program, but that program comes at the cost of tighter calculations and more injections. We calculate every carb, because that's the program he's on right now, and it's working for him. But, our son has a friend his own age, seeing the same ped endo, on the same basic program, and his BS is not nearly as tight as our son's is, and they've been working on this a lot longer than we have. Further, this child's father is a "brittle" T1 diabetic, and has suffered every complication there is, despite heroic efforts to "count carbs" and control his BS.
T1 management, I am learning, is a highly individualized thing. What works for one person does not necessarily work for another. So, to say that one approach is the "right" approach is inaccurate, and, I feel, counter productive. There is no way I am going to tell my friend with a T1 son that they are not counting carbs correctly because her son's BS is not tightly controlled. There are a dozen other factors at work, most of which we don't understand.
Bottom line, for me, is "if it's working for you, do it". Call it whatever you want to, but don't assume the same approach works equally for everyone.
Mo