Stimming and Fidgeting to Calm and Focus
Maybe you’ve lost count of the times you’ve told your child to stop biting their nails, bouncing their legs, or twirling their hair. What seems like annoying behavior may actually serve a purpose, like helping your child to self-soothe or increase focus. “I don’t even realize I’m doing it,” says an adult who has ADHD…
Read MoreFidget-to-Focus Strategies
How do people with ADHD and executive function challenges stay focused on important yet uninteresting tasks? Tasks they know they need to complete, but ones they find dull, tedious, and mundane? It’s a question that clinical psychologist Roland Rotz has been exploring for decades, and a question he continues to ask those attending the adult…
Read MoreSensory Classroom Interventions
This research update highlights two recent studies evaluating the drawbacks and benefits of sensory classroom interventions (specifically, fidget spinners and wiggle seats) utilizing reversal crossover-withdrawal designs. Do children with ADHD do better if they can use fidget spinners in school? The first study’s goal was to examine if the use of fidget spinners by children…
Read MoreHarness Fidgeting to Improve Focus
“STOP SHAKING YOUR LEGS. You are making the kitchen table move,” said John’s mother. “John, stop tapping your fingers on the desk, you are disturbing the other students,” said John’s teacher. These and similar comments are probably familiar to many of you as individuals who fidget, as parents of children or teens who fidget, or…
Read MoreFavorite Fidget Toys
Don’t Stop the Movement!
HAVE YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF PACING as you talk on the phone or fidgeting while sitting through meetings and lectures? Perhaps you find yourself concentrating better when you are chewing gum? Children are taught to quietly sit still and pay attention in the classroom. But what if this is actually preventing some children from performing…
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