To think fidget toys are unfair

[RantsAndBants]

Most school have banned them or confiscated them which is unfair on the children who actually need them for things like anxiety,self harm distraction, ADHD etc.

Now it's just a trend and kids can't get away with using their fidget cubes discreetly .

[Lindy2]

Fidget spinners are noisy and distracting for everyone and I don't think they help children with distraction issues.
My child does have a fidget toy at school. It is a silent, non distracting rubber thing and it helps her. She can use it very discretely. She also has a fidget spinner to play with at home. The fidget spinner is just a toy in my opinion.

[Toysaurus]

I love my son's Senco. She's sensible, clued up and gets it. She herself ordered him a fidget cube for use at school. For parents like me having someone in mainstream education like this Has been life changing for my child.

Fidget spinners have been banned by school unless the adjustment has been put in. Fair enough to me.

[MaisyPops]

What sensible posts Alfieisnoisy, BoysofMelody and Sofabitch.

I can't believe how controversial it is for people to want a teaching and learning environment that allows teachers to teach and children to learn. (And that it's possible to support children who rightly have additional needs and access arrangements without all the rubbish associated with fidget spinners).

It seems to be that 'if you don't accept fidget spinner because all these children must have a temporary special need that magically disappears when something is no longer cool, then you're an awful draconian teacher who hates children with special needs blah blah blah'.

[Alfieisnoisy]

My son attends a special school and even they have banned them!

The only exceptions are the ones who the occupational therapy staff member assesses as needing them. They can be very useful for some children but they are also a huge distraction. My son has autism and ASD and I know he would spend his life spinning the bloody thing on a desk and not paying attention. They wouldn't work for him, however blue tac was a dream when he was younger. I know the OP has said it won't work for her daughter.

[BoysofMelody]

Six months from now, these stupid toys will have gone the way of pigs, friendship braids, pogs and countless other kiddy fads. Somehow the kids who previously managed just fine in class without a fidget spinner, will find that they're able to cope again( for the avoidance of doubt I'm not talking about those with SEN, forwhom Therese properly designed and tested alternatives)

As an added bonus I might be able to travel on a bus between 3 and 4 and not be disturbed by the constant wirr of the bloody things.

[notaslimceagirl]

I would think that fidget spinners may give more sensory feedback to a child with SPD than blutac, but that would depend on the individual needs of the child.

[Sofabitch]

Its not unfair. There are much better tools for aiding concentration and enable a child with additional needs to focus. Fidget cubes would be lowest on my list of to recommend.

Something much simpler like blue tac is quieter, has way more fiddle options and less distracting for a whole class, and indeed the child fiddling with it.

[MaisyPops]

I'm not being stroppy.

I'm saying that me making an observation that all but one of the children who developed a sudden need don't have a need isn't at all the same as saying most children with send needs are naughty.


Maybe I'm just fed up with hearing the same old recycled rubbish about fidget spinners for months on end and am irritated that i have spent lots of time dealing with nonsense linked to fidget spinners and suddenly need claims that could actually have been spent teaching and supporting the learning of those children who really do need additional strategies.
I guess I just get fed up when school time and valuable resources get taken away from those who are battling the system because yet another fad has come along.

You only have to look at the special needs boards to see how many people struggle to get through the system to get what their child needs. I find it annoying as hell that my time is taken away from those children because I'm fielding phonecards asking why members of my department have confiscated toys that kids don't need and have used to distract and disrupt.

[Fergus425]

Gosh Maisy

Are you always so stroppy when people question what you say?

To my mind it is the same thinking that says 99.9% of SEN kids are just naughty.
It's nothing like that at all.

Oh, ok then

[MaisyPops]

Fergus425
Ok. So we'll go for literal unpicking over a general point because it suits the discussion.

The VAST MAJORITY of kids who suddenly decide they "need" a toy don't at all. They do not have an additional need, let alone a need that is helped by fidgeting.
When the trend calmed down in my school, suddenly ALMOST ALL the kids who were claiming they "needed" them and had their parents writing in note informing us of their child's "need" suddenly no longer needed them. The exception is one student whose parent also rings up regularly demanding to know what we can do for a whole host of additional needs their child supposedly has - but when we offer to do an educational psychologist assessment or suggest GP referal (for things in our area that are easier to access via GP) they aren't interested in getting a diagnosis that opens up support and resources. We just accept now that there'll be a new self diagnosed need every few months to deal with that they have zero interest in doing anything meaningful about.

To my mind it is the same thinking that says 99.9% of SEN kids are just naughty.
It's nothing like that at all.

[summersun80]

My daughter is autistic and I banned her from using hers at school.

[Flowersinyourhair]

Or been the child sat next to someone with a spinner who is now entirely distracted by the whirring in their peripheral vision...

[Flowersinyourhair]

Those who advocate their use in a classroom have probably never been a teacher in a classroom where children who, previously have had no trouble concentrating now can't concentrate as their focus is entirely consumed by their fidget spinner....

[JeffVaderneedsatray]

Both my children have ASCs. They both own fidget spinners but DS spun his twice, said 'That's cool.' and then put it down and it was never seen again. DD loves hers but rather than a concentration aid hers is calming when she is anxious. She has one in her 5 minute box so when she's feeling twisty she get 5 mins out of class to refocus.
Both also have fidget cubes but DS isn't bothered and DD gets annoyed by the clicking.
Our biggest succes in terms of fidgets have been 'captive' marbles - basically a marble in a tube of mesh. They are small and can be kept in a pocket and are discreet.
I am also a teacher, now a supply teacher, and when I ahd a classroom I had a box of fidgets, mostly things like tangles and folding rulers. Some children benefited from using them and some messed around. The messers around had the fidgets removed.
As a supply teacher I find the spinners distract me! I always check who is allowed and what the rule is.
DS is a fidgeter and so we have a box of fidgets in the living room.

[QueenieGoldstein]

The reason for the sudden explosion of these items is the 20 year patent ran out and wasn't renewed. We've had fidget cubes in school for years but they weren't common knowledge until every market stall stocked them as anyone could make them once the patent expired.

I have children who need to have something discreet to fiddle with or doodle on in the classroom, that is nothing new and I will always accommodate any such need for the benefit of those children. The spinner bandwagon has not helped these children in any way. Roll on September and the next fad so long as it's not fucking loom bands again so those who need a small fiddle item can carry on without everyone trying it on.

[Steeley113]

I'm a fidgeter, have been all my life. I have no diagnosed issues nor do I want any. I've always just coped with blutac, paper, doodling, chewing normal jewellery. I really don't see the need for it all!

[Fergus425]

Something becomes a trend/fad and suddenly loads of kids decide they "need" one to concentrate despite managing perfectly well for years and you are demanding a link that suggests most of the sudden increase in 'need' is linked to it being a cool trend? Really?

Link please = 'demanding'? Not 'requesting'? Or 'asking'? That seems a little... defensive.

I was just wondering if your 99.9% assertion was factually based. Guess not.

I don't disagree with the sentiment, by the way. My (under assessment for ADD) kids are desperate to take them to school and I have refused. They use blue tac instead.

I just don't think it's helpful making statistical statements like 99.9% of kids.... when the actual percentage isn't known. To my mind it is the same thinking that says 99.9% of SEN kids are just naughty.