Application of stimulus equivalence to language intervention for individuals with severe linguistic disabilities

Over the past decade, theoretical advances in our understanding of stimulus equivalence have highlighted a close relationship between the formation of equivalence classes and language. This paper highlights these theoretical concepts and describes studies which have applied an equivalence framework to different aspects of language formation in persons with intellectual and linguistic disabilities. The findings in these studies have contributed substantially to an understanding of fundamental processes that appear to underlie language development. Additionally, they have yielded some promising results in beginning to overcome problems that have beleaguered language intervention for individuals with severe linguistic disabilties. On the basis of this literature, it is suggested that an equivalence framework could have a wide range of applications in current language intervention programmes, including identification of specific linguistic defects in individuals, establishing, expanding and integrating receptive and expressive vocabularies, acquisition and use of signs or graphic symbols and promoting more sophisticated linguistic concepts, e. g. syntax and categorisation.