There is always a search for remedies for symptoms of ADHD. Children with ADHD struggle with distractibility, impulsivity, and being fidgety if not outright hyperactive. These difficulties can interfere greatly with daily functioning. This includes in the classroom, but also at home with getting through homework, getting off to school in the morning, or doing chores. Some parents use textured stickers, bubble Pop-it sensory toys, fidget spinners, or squishable balls in an effort to refocus the fidgeting. There are a host of behavioral interventions that can be helpful but it’s always important to determine whether any given approach is actually helpful for your child.
What Typically Works, and What Doesn’t Work?
There are all types of things you can do to improve focus when doing a task at home. Standard strategies to assist with improving attention include, for example:
- removing distractions
- making sure the child’s phone or electronics are nowhere in sight
- having a set schedule for the task
- being organized
- using buzzers or alarms as reminders
- Post-it notes to keep on track
- checklists for smaller parts of a larger task
- Alexa can even give a prompt or two at predetermined times
In the child's classroom, it can be harder to eliminate all the distractions. Other children can often be sources of distractions. But there are still ways we can still help the child focus on the tasks or instruction. We may have a child sit in the front row, use noise-canceling headphones, or use a Carrell when completing tasks to block out external stimuli.
What about Movement Activities?
It’s been established that movement activities and breaks help children with ADHD. Taking a break after a while allowing the child to run around and burn off some steam, and then return to the task has been a long-standing and effective strategy. A modified version of that would include the child being able to, for example, stand beside their desk, move around, and stretch while or before completing a task. These approaches have tended to work quite well and are commonly used to help children with ADHD in the classroom or at home.
What About More Subtle Movement Activities?
However, what about more subtle movements such as using fidget spinners or a squishy ball? Do these more nuanced movement approaches work? Well, it depends. Research and my own observations have shown that, for some children, using various devices such as fidget spinners helps to promote attention and task completion. However, for other children, it actually increases their distractibility and results in less task completion. So, it’s a mixed bag.
So, Does That Mean Fidget Spinners Work?
What this means is that, just like with most other strategies, any given game plan or treatment plan needs to be individualized and child-specific. In that respect, what works for one child may not work for another. That’s why we always take a well-thought-out, child-specific approach that is based in data collection, experimenting with different approaches, and closely assessing what works and what doesn’t work.
In fact, even if the research suggested that something was quite effective across the board, that doesn’t mean it’s gonna work for your child or vice versa. You never know until you try. However, again, each strategy needs to be well thought–out ahead of time, implemented strategically, and assessed quite thoroughly and intensely to determine its impact. It’s almost always the case that any given strategy needs to be fine-tuned and tweaked with time. So you won't know if fidget spinners will work for your child unless you try.
Before You Turn to Fidget Spinners...
Effectively managing ADHD, in any setting, is a challenge and takes ample thought and strategizing. I’m always here to help and that’s what we do here at Community Psychiatric Centers and the Autism Center of Pittsburg. We work with kids and teenagers and are well-versed in managing the signs and symptoms of ADHD. If you need help, don’t hesitate to reach out at Dr.Carosso@aol.com. I hope you found this post to be helpful. Have a great week, and God bless you and your kiddos and your family.
