Experts poke holes in claims that fidget spinners can treat ADHD
Fidget spinners are a fun, relaxing fount of mindless entertainment. But are they really more than a cheap toy?
Some experts say no. Despite marketing claims, there's no research that shows the wildly popular spinners are therapeutic tools for people with anxiety, autism, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
"I know there's lots of similar toys ... and there's basically no scientific evidence that those things work across the board," Scott Kollins, a clinical psychologist and professor at Duke University, told NPR on Sunday.
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That doesn't mean the three-pronged plastic phenomena don't provide any real benefits, or that parents and educators are wrong when they say it helps some children focus in the classroom. But retailers may be stretching the truth when they label these devices as treatments for fidgety behavior, minuscule attention spans, or discomfort in a classroom setting.
Image: amazon.com/screenshot
"It's important for parents and teachers who work with kids who have ADHD to know that there are very well studied and documented treatments that work, and that they're out there, so there's not really quick and easy fixes like buying a toy," Kollins told NPR.
About 11 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 4 and 17 — or 6.4 million kids — have been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2011, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
Their parents often search for help beyond the typical medication, which might make them more vulnerable to marketing efforts that falsely lump these toys in the category of evaluated, proven solutions that help students focus and learn.
Another expert had a similarly skeptical view of fidget spinners.
"Using a spinner-like gadget is more likely to serve as a distraction than a benefit for individuals with ADHD," Mark Rapport, a clinical psychologist at the University of Central Florida who has studied the benefits of movement on attention in people with ADHD, told LiveScience earlier this month.
Still, parents and some developmental specialists have defended fidget spinners, even as teachers and schools banned them from the classroom for being too disruptive. Proponents argue that, under the right circumstances, spinners and devices like them can soothe an anxious student or calm a hyperactive mind.
Image: amazon.com/screenshot
"These little gadgets should be called fidget tools, not toys, and they can be part of a successful strategy for managing fidgety behavior if they are introduced as a normal part of the classroom culture," Claire Heffron, a pediatric occupational therapist in Cleveland, recently told the Washington Post.
A 2015 study found that students with ADHD performed better on a computerized attention test the more intensely they fidgeted. Children without ADHD, meanwhile, did not improve their test score with fidgeting.
But Julie Schweitzer, the study's author and a clinical psychologist at the University of California at Davis, said it's too early to know whether fidget spinners could deliver similar results.
"We need to study them to find if they make a difference and for whom," Schweitzer told the Post.
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