To ask you not to buy fidget spinners or any other shit and let your DCs take them to school?

[StrongerThanIThought76]

I'm a teacher. The current fad for Things To Piss The Teacher Off In Class is fidget spinners.

Before anyone jumps on me I recognise and accept that for some SEN kids they are a godsend. I know that. I really really do.

But there are so many kids that are now telling anyone in their vicinity that they are to help them focus etc etc.

NO THEY FUCKING DON'T!

They're a distraction not only to the kid in question, to the kids around you and to the poor sod at the front of the room trying to teach.

If your kid has SEN speak to the SENCO at school who will advise you if your kid would be allowed to have one. Even then (as it is in my school) they should only be used when appropriate.

If your kid is 'normal' then please don't send the damn TOYS into school. The only thing most kids should have in their hand during lessons is a pen or pencil!

And don't call in demanding that your kid gets their TOY back immediately - they've had it confiscated because they're pissing about in class. We wouldn't be happy with them playing with an Action Man or remote control car in class, and neither would you be.

Rant over. We have a hard enough time as it is in schools, keep the extra distraction out of the classroom please?

Thankyou

My son has ADHD and could get a pass for these fidget spinners (he has one) as he does require a fidget item however, I prefer him to have something more unobtrusive for school precisely because I think these spinners are a distraction for everyone else. When I bought it for him I told him he wasn't to use it in school. He has a quiet cube and another small, metal, quiet fidget item for in class (also blu-tack - which works well).

His school has said that those with a note from Guidance may have one and he could get a note but I've told him he can use something else in the classroom. He does use the spinner at home and it does help him but I have to say it distracts me so I can see it being a nuisance in class.

Could someone please tell my students that flipping is over
misses point of thread

Can't get my DD assessed for ADHD as the school claim she's fine there. So I don't send her in with her fidget spinner or my cube. If they're so sure she's ok, they can come up with their own way to get her to concentrate or sit still.

In all honesty I wouldn't send it in anyway as its bloody heavy and in the wrong hands could do a lot of damage. DS who doesn't need one but would otherwise nab DD's has taken it to preschool, but they take them off them on entrance - let them do a little show and tell later on - then return at home time.

My dd has one. Mitherd for one and hasn't really bothered with it. Would never let her take it into school though. Even for break time. Just as I would let her take a tablet or Barbie doll.
Think allowing them at break time is a bit of a kick in the teeth for those who havnt got one.
I would prefer dd playing with a fidgit spinner than loom bands any day

Jaques so do ours. Either in their coat pocket in the cloakroom, or in their bag/tray. Somehow they end up in their hands/pockets during lesson time.
Tbh it's amazing what kids will fiddle with,spinners or not.

my daughter who has SEN spends whole lessons eating her hair (we now tie it back), eating her uniform or eating the pads off her fingers until there are whole layers of skin missing.

She also had the pleasure of staying in at break as she spent the entire class sharpening her pencil. She doesn't use a fidget spinner in class but I wish she would if it meant she would be able to concentrate without damaging her stuff or indeed herself.

My younger kids have asked for one. I have said no.
Kids with SEN have been getting shit for years because they use similar.
Parents have had to battle schools to let them use them because so many think they know better than OTs, parents and psychologists what kids with SEND need.

Now they are going to get banned and even if the kids with SEND are allowed to use them there will be parents and kids bitching that its 'not fair that the naughty kids area allowed'.

Surely it's setting a bad precedent to let kids play with 'calming'/'stress relieving' toys. Especially these ones which disruptive. If you need to fidget, fidget quietly. A beaded bracelet, a hairbobble, a pen, a bit of putty, anything that's quiet. I don't see how it's fair to fidget with buttons and audible toys when it's going to disrupt the other kids around them.
I mean, you wouldn't expect an adult to sit there clicking their fidget cube. It'd drive everyone else bonkers! I have ASD and I have a bit of silky ribbon that I run through my fingers. I only take it out with me when I'm going to be in an unusually stressful situation and it's silent.
The minute one of these toys becomes popular, every kid needs one...every kid needs to fidget. It's nuts. Teach them to grow up and adapt.

My DH told me yesterday that lots of his co-workers have them in the office.

They're all typing one handed.

I'm sure some of them are neuroatypical, so perhaps it does help them, but DH reckons it's every other person so he's not convinced they all need them. But then he's a bit of grumpy sod.

Lol @ the flipping. My five year old suggested to me that he wanted to try it in the back of the car. I was not impressed.

Pudding - In the spirit of feedback may I point out that Thank you, is two words.

And in the spirit of feedback may I point out that you shouldn't have a comma after 'you', there should be no capital 't', and 'thank you' should be inside quote marks?

If you're going to criticise Stronger's grammar ...

Stronger - I totally agree.

God, the number of students who can remember to bring in the latest bit of faddy shite but can't remember their basic equipment... my Y9s are currently sharing a fragment of a ruler between about fifteen of them. Drives me nuts.

We've just told ours (infant school) that they are not to be brought in to school. If we do see them we will take them away and we will hand them back to the parent at pick up. Too many getting lost or misplaced and children making a fuss over them.

Have also told them that those children who do legitimately need a fidget toy in class, as arranged by school/teachers, will be provided with school fidget toys to use in class accordingly.

My ds has these as fiddle toys. He also has fine motor coordination dysfunction so it kills 2 birds with one stone!

OP I was actually deeply offended at your 'normal' comment and from your op alone, have realised that thank heavens you're not teaching my child.

Your attitude is shocking, said xtemerly unprofessional and you and other teachers with the same narrow minded, total lack of empathy attitude, are the reason so many children with SENd are failed by the system.

For my DS, who is currently hurting himself and refusing to go to school due to ASD related anxiety, having his harmless fidget spinner or a bit of blue tak in his pocket is what helps him almost relax.

I see you haven't dared to post your post on the SN Chat thread...I wonder why.

I think describing kids without SEN as normal kids is as offensive as people asking me what's "wrong" with my lovely son!!
You being a teacher? Thank god my lovely boy isn't in your class, I think you might be in the wrong profession

Rebel - like I said different schools. The threat of a month's confiscation with no exceptions means it pretty much works

Ban something and the kids want it more: say to them "ok we are trusting you to use them when appropriate" makes it way less necessary to sneak them into class.

"I mean, you wouldn't expect an adult to sit there clicking their fidget cube. It'd drive everyone else bonkers!"

I would if they have ASD or ADHD. I know (and work with) a few adults on the spectrum and they do have things to fidget with - cubes are a good one because they can fit in suit pockets. One person I know wears candy jewellery to play with! I'm a doodler - I'll often colour disposable coffee cups in during meetings. I'm not even diagnosed, although I have traits of ASD and ADD. No one cares.

DS (ASD) came home today and said the head has banned spinners as of Monday. One of the kids in his class lost theirs outside yesterday and apparently made quite a bit of a fuss. Oh well. DS says he would rather keep it at home now and use it for homework than get it confiscated, but he is quite sensible - he didn't want a flashing one "because lights don't help me, Mum."

Yay italics fail!

Wrenika - the ribbon works for you, that's great, it wouldn't work for me, can't stand the touch of silk. One DS has ASD and doesn't need a fidget at all, the other has ASD and ADHD and definitely does. What works for one will not necessarily work for another.

The idea that he could somehow grow up and adapt caused DS2s old school placement to completely collapse. The thing is, he hasn't got time to grow up or adapt, this is his shot, right here right now. We're just doing the necessary to get him an education he has a hope of actually accessing.

The other kids with their more highly developed cognitive, social and empathy skills will quite frankly, need to adapt.

DS' noisy clicky fingers and ankles can and do distract the rest of the class.
Drives me to distraction, I sometimes wish I could ban those

I work in a secondary school, dealing with up to 150 kids a day.

There is absolutely no issue at all with kids who absolutely need to use some sort of fiddle gadget - we have seen blutak, lego cubes, beaded bracelets and loads more examples for countless reasons all across school. We have provided kids with these as recommended by professionals both within and outside the school, and often upon meeting with parents of kids who are 'under the radar' but we want them to be able to focus better in class. We use various other support techniques and equipment around school for students that we know need them. No student who needs that kind of support is denied access to them at the right time and for the right reasons.

There are, however, a growing number of students who are bringing these toys into the classroom just to play with. They have no identified (professionally or otherwise) additional needs yet think because they ARE considered as an educational aid then they are ok to use in class. For no other reason than they are the current fad. They are being confiscated despite many warnings. THESE are the kids who are disrupting classes.

It will always be something, I know that.

I mean, you wouldn't expect an adult to sit there clicking their fidget cube. It'd drive everyone else bonkers! I have ASD and I have a bit of silky ribbon that I run through my fingers. I only take it out with me when I'm going to be in an unusually stressful situation and it's silent.

That works for you @wrenika but I'm sure you are intelligent enough to realise that it wouldn't work for everyone because not everyone is the same. My son does need to fidget (trust me him tapping and twirling his pencil is far more disruptive - I've had enough teachers telling me so). If he doesn't have an item like this he annoys the teacher with his pencil or eats his clothing or bites his hand leaving horrible welts.

The other kids with their more highly developed cognitive, social and empathy skills will quite frankly, need to adapt

Ooh. I think this attitude is deeply and fundamentally unfair. They may have more developed skills in some areas, but not in others. I teach many 'NT' students who are seriously disadvantaged by poverty, by low literacy and numeracy, by behavioural problems that don't place them on any PIP or educational 'plan'. Many of these children get little to no individual attention from their teacher (me!) because my attention is wholly on students with SEND. In more than one of my classes I spend probably 80% of the time managing and supporting two or three children who (not through their own fault) constantly shout out during silent tasks, class discussions, instructions etc., or are moving around the room, or rocking on their chair, or playing with an item like a fidget spinner. This is every lesson, for years of these other students' lives. 'They will have to adapt' is as unfair on them as it is on any student with SEND. Their educations have been drastically set back by the inclusion agenda. I categorically don't blame students with SEND for this, but nor can I agree with what you posted.