I work with an instructor that had a student in her class that could not read. I have never personally experienced this, but how would one help this student?

The first class I ever taught left me feeling ill prepared. After the first week, a student came to me at the end of class and whispered, "If you do more than just stand there when you lecture, those guys will pay attention. We like the subject, we just think you're boring". It was a rude awakening, but it made me think about how the class was seeing me, and make changes.