Boo! Core Vocabulary for kids with disabilities

There is nothing children love more than hiding behind a curtain or under the table (often in plain view) in order to jump out a give you a fright. BOO!

Children who are able to hide in, on, behind or under something get to experience these words not only through the five basic senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch but also through use the sense of movement (vestibular), and sense of muscle awareness (proprioception). This allows them to map the core vocabulary internally and they learn that ‘on’ can refer to; on a box, or on a bicycle, or a lid that is on.

However for many children, physical limitations and/or sensory difficulties, prevent them from learning using all their senses. Not only do they have to reorganize information to make sense of it, but they also have to compensate for missing information. Their experience of prepositions is often limited to contrived language simulations of putting objects in,on, under or behind something and they are never able enjoy the belly laugh game of BOO!

Complete with scary music and the cover of darkness, Toca Boo provides a virtual BOO game so that children with limitations get to frighten the pants off ‘unsuspecting family members.’

Toca Boo allows you to drag the ghost (which is shown as a girl covered with a sheet) around the house. You can hide the ghost in, on, under or behind different furniture or objects in the house. To achieve the best scare, the ghost needs to avoid any flashlights when hiding. You have to wait patiently for someone to walk past. Tapping on the person you want to frighten activates the ghost, and the result…….real belly laughing giggles.

Perspective taking is often an area of difficulty for many children on the autism spectrum. This post from Speech Techie highlights the importance of teaching perspective taking when hiding.

Toca Boo is available on the app store for $3.99. Although real experience is always best; for those that can’t, this app comes as near to dammit as the real thing!