Functional maturity, environmental structure, and reading processes in children with intellectual disabilities: A documentary review
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This article analyzes the relationship between functional maturity, the structuring of the educational environment (time and space), and reading processes in children with intellectual disabilities, based on a systematic documentary review. The literature reviewed supports the understanding of maturity not as a static prerequisite, but as a functional construction that can be pedagogically mediated through relational, environmental, and bodily experiences. Likewise, a structured, accessible, and emotionally safe environment —including temporal routines, delimited spaces, and visual or sensory supports— is highlighted as a key facilitator of reading learning. Methodological approaches such as functional, global, and multimodal reading strategies emerge as effective when adapted to the interests and rhythms of each student. The findings reveal a limited theoretical integration between these three dimensions and underscore the need for inclusive pedagogical models that recognize literacy as a situated, embodied, and relational experience. The study offers key insights to reframe literacy in individuals with intellectual disabilities—not as a technique limited to developmental achievement, but as a legitimate and accessible process when the environment is organized with dignity, diversity, and the body as a pathway to reading.
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