TECH PRIOR

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.