Learn with Rufus: Boys & Girls

About Learn with Rufus: Boys & Girls Android App

Have fun learning how faces are different between boys and girls!

Learn with Rufus: Boys and Girls aims to help children learn the facial features that correspond to boys and girls. Children will learn how to identify gender from faces with typical and atypical features. The game is highly customizable to meet the needs of children with varying skills, ability levels, and learning styles.

This game was designed by Dr Holly Gastgeb, a clinical and developmental psychologist with over ten years of experience working with typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Her research has shown that children with ASD have difficulty identifying genders from an early age. Since this ability is developed throughout childhood, the game is also beneficial for a wide range of children including those early achievers without any diagnosed learning difficulties.

Learn with Rufus: Boys and Girls is organized into three parts, a learning phase and two separate games:
• Practice - A preview of the male and female faces is shown to the child before the game starts.
• Find It! - Shown a picture of a boy and a girl, the child is directed to select a specific gender.
• Name It! - Shown a single picture, the child is asked to name the gender.

To keep children interested and motivated, the following features are included:
• Reward sets - Choose from nine different colorful child-friendly reward sets including bugs, cars, cats, dinosaurs, and more.
• Toy break - The child is given periodic breaks with fun on-screen glowing rings. This feature can be turned off if the child does not need breaks or finds them distracting.
• Positive reinforcement - Rufus does a "happy dance" and gives positive verbal reinforcement when the child answers correctly. If the child answers incorrectly, the correct answer will be restated.
• Music and sounds - Child-friendly music and sounds are included throughout the game. This feature can be turned off if the child is sensitive to or distracted by sounds and music.
• Text - For children who enjoy reading, the word that corresponds to each picture is presented above the picture. This feature can be turned off if the words are distracting to the child.
• Icons - For younger children who haven't yet learned reading or for those who find the text distracting, icons that correspond to the genders are presented. This feature can be turned off to increase difficulty.

Additional customizable features that are present include:
• Level of difficulty - The level of difficulty can be adjusted to match the child's ability level:
Easy - Faces with quickly identifiable genders
Medium - Mix of easy and hard faces
Hard - Faces with hair cues removed
• Practice - The practice session before the games may be disabled to increase difficulty.
• Languages - Choose between English and Spanish.

For parents, educators, and therapists:
• Profiles per child - More than one child can play the game and all data is stored under each child's name.
• Track data and statistics - At the end of the game, a graph of the child's data is presented. Touch the graph to enlarge it, and then touch each data point to gather information about the child's performance.
• Email data - From the graph screen, if the device is capable of email, select the Export button to send yourself a CSV file of the child's progress.

For Ages 3 & Up