That such a scenario could even exist in this day and age both shocks and saddens me.
It is shocking that those who were tasked with making sure he didn't slip through the cracks continued to fail in their duties each and every time they could have done something about the situation. And I am deeply saddened that he was deprived of the experience of reading while still a youth, as that is the most wonderful time to be able to imagine the world around you, both real and unreal, through the reading of books, articles, poetry, and all the other literature that has been put on paper since the beginning of time by our truly skilled authors, philosophers, reporters, etc. Thankfully he has the ability to experience that now, but it surely diminished somewhat by the loss of time and lack of youth his late start to the game has brought.
And then there is the scientist in me who is fascinated and intrigued by the thought of a human brain that must operate so differently from mine. It is difficult to imagine a facet of my daily life that is not affected by my ability to read and write. How my thoughts form and then get expressed are absolutely a result of my ability to read and write. But if I had never learned to read or write, how would I think? How would I listen? How would I express myself in all these situations I find myself in from day to day if I had never learned something so simple (to me) as to read or write?
The simple answer is that nothing would be the same...I would not be the same...and yet I would still be me...just not the Me, me.
If it were not the epitome of rudeness and offensive behavior, I would love to ask him to sit down with me and answer some questions...a bunch of questions actually...probably even an insane amount of questions in his mind, about what it was like to exist on a day to day basis before learning to read and write. But regardless of how scientific my intentions might be, I recognize that subjecting him to such an interrogation would only really benefit me and likely seem interminably intrusive to him. So I will have to just keep on wondering I guess...