Are Fidget Spinners Helpful for Kids with ADHD, Autism and Anxiety?
There's a new trend literally spinning its way around the world, from classrooms to social media. But is it actually doing what it's marketed to do?
WTOP reports that some fidget spinners -- small top-like gadgets you can spin fast with your fingers, meant to help children focus -- are advertised as stress relievers on Amazon, and are even being touted as "perfect for ADD, ADHD, anxiety and autism."
"Fidgets are great tools for kids who need them, as long as there are ground rules set up with the child and educator in advance, and as long as the child can follow the rules," Maryland-based occupational therapist Katherine Ross-Keller told WTOP.
But how could they help those with ADHD? Crista Hopp, an ADHD coach based in Virginia, told WTOP that "when hands or any other body part is moving, an individual is able to focus more on what they need to."
That's not to say everyone agrees the toys are beneficial in a therapeutic sense.
"The spinner toys, in my opinion, and that of teachers I've spoken to, are just that -- toys," according to another Maryland-based occupational therapist Stephen Poss.
Fidget spinners, a type of "fidget object," could actually be counterproductive.
"Fidget objects are meant to be felt, so that visual attention can be focused on the teacher," he continued to WTOP. "Spinner toys are visually distracting, and I think that's their major drawback."
It's not just kids getting in on the fidget-spinner craze either.
"It is extremely satisfying to hold this spinning, whirring toy between your fingers," according to a blog post from North Carolina-based science educator Beth Harris. "Part of this is the small resistance you feel when turning the spinner from side to side. What you feel is actually the angular inertia of the spinning toy."
Nearly 11 percent of children ages 4 to 17 have received an ADHD diagnosis, according to the latest data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Even tweeters are wound up about fidget spinners, posting comments including:
2016: "We get it, you vape!"
2017: "We get it, you have a fidget spinner!"
-- Olivia (@_olivia_xo) April 23, 2017
Absolute bane of my life at the moment. #teacherproblems #fidgetspinner #funpolice pic.twitter.com/lH4xZw1Ulk
-- MissMJW (@MissHistoryNQT) April 25, 2017
When your dad gets you a #fidgetspinner bc everyone has one thanks Dad pic.twitter.com/T5HfutdcXl
-- Paige Krause (@paige_krause5) April 21, 2017
When he's a fidget spinner pro: pic.twitter.com/JyHYyqznR6
-- Sarah Watkins (@SarahWatkins12) April 23, 2017
i am.. in love with this fidget spinner
-- Rhachana Chen (@RhachC) April 25, 2017
I couldn't wait to get my fidget spinner in the mail so I made one and it's not the best one but, it works! :D #fidgetspinner pic.twitter.com/VDUQpOHHJa
-- YukiSakamaki (@ReyesLoralyn) April 25, 2017
Fidget spinners selling like hot cakes from our #Didsbury shop #fidgetspinner #Manchester pic.twitter.com/QYZAkeOtyL
-- Giddy Goat Toys (@GiddyGoatToys) April 25, 2017
The 5 Latest Poison Control Threats Kids Face
10 Ways to Raise a Giving Child
David Oliver is Associate Editor, Social Media at U.S. News & World Report. Follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, or send him an email at doliver@usnews.com.
