McHugh, L., & Reed, P. (2008). Using Relational Frame Theory to build grammar in children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. The Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis, 2.4-3.1, 60-77.
The potential for using Relational Frame Theory (RFT) to teach grammar to children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC) is explored. Although artificial grammar procedures appear effective for establishing grammatical control over verbal behavior in an analytic language, they suffer from a lack of generalizability, and an inability to establish hierarchical grammatical control of a sort typically found in grammar in synthetic languages, which is problematic for children with ASC. On the other hand, RFT offers a set of procedures that can establish hierarchical contextual control, and allow for generalization of these behaviors. This makes RFT potentially a viewpoint from which to develop behavioral interventions, and these interventions should be seen as working with traditional approaches to the establishment of grammar.