Can you read?

I saw another patient today who could not read. It's not that he's a poor reader...he can't read. It makes me sad to think how much he's missed out on in his life. How he's probably been taken advantage of.
He grew up in the south as a black man where reading wasn't thought to be important. He caught on very quickly to my low literacy teaching so I know he could easily be taught to read.
I wondered after I left his room why he just never took that step ..was he embarrassed? was he afraid of failure? or had he adapted so well that he just felt he didn't need to learn or had no one ever taken the time to realize he couldn't read and teach him.
I don't know the answer.