Fidget Spinners

Has anyone else banned this things from their sqn?

Last night 9 kids were stood around comparing notes, so now the spinners are no more for the sqn.

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Never seen one.

They look like this.

Apparently for kids with ADHD and other [snip] conditions, when they get restless, but seems to be a growing fad.

I would be interested to see the scientific basis for such a thing being helpful. I can see them being quite annoying during a lesson…

They can be a pain. But if you have a good hold of your squadron telking them to put them away unless its naafi time should be enough.

As for made up conditions think you need to check your facts out. Not sure thats quite ACO policy! They are for children with ASD and ADHD neither of which are “Made up”.

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Biting.

What other ‘made up’ conditions are there Teflon? Just because a disability isn’t visible doesn’t mean it’s made up! I think you need to remind yourself of the contents of ACP 29.

As above…if you have a handle on your cadets it shouldn’t be a problem.

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When I was growing up at school you had degrees of naughtiness in kids. They didn’t exist as named conditions.
These then became something parents got diagnosed and in a number of cases did and or still do get money for them.

Yep know and read ACP 29 and a fine piece of work, but where are the resources and training to deal with these? We have friends who are or have been governors and they’ve said these cost a small fortune to support and drain school finances as some need one to one assistance. I don’t have staff trained or sufficient staff at the sqn to deal with these individually.

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Yes but when you grew up the death penalty existed and I imagine the pyramids had just been built.

Get with the times. You are absolutely the worst, least enthusing, most energy draining poster I have ever had the misfortune to come across and I pity both your cadets and squadron staff for having to put up with you.

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No and I bet any number of physical conditions didn’t exist either - that’s medicine for you. Evolving & developing all the time.

I’m not suggesting you have staff trained, but a little acknowledgement that these conditions (I assume we’re talking about ASDs) aren’t ‘made up’ and a bit of compassion instead of ridicule & scepticism wouldn’t go amiss.

After all, as the saying goes, if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met ONE person with autism.

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Most of the time I consider your contributions a sort of slightly tiresome devil’s advocate, but just occasionally I do actually wonder at your suitability to be involved in a youth organisation.

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Never mind youth, try any organisation.

In any reputable group, team, business… that kind of language would get someone into hot water with HR. And rightly so.

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Over-diagnosis…??

Perhaps.

This is wildly off topic but yes there will always be occasions of people over diagnosing conditions, or just getting it wrong. Doesn’t mean it’s made up though…:wink:

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There are real children with ADHD who benefit from real fiddle toys. But this isn’t a real fiddle-toy (too simple) and kids with such severe ADHD would be unlikely to be in mainstream education.

If anyone turns up with one, ask parents if they have a recommendation from an Ed Psych for its use; if not, it can go in the drawer with the Rubik’s cube etc.

(teacher)

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What a detestable attitude for a Youth Leader! What other conditions do you consider to be ‘made up’?

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The spinners and other “tools” were developed for people to fidget with as stress relievers regardless of diagnosed conditions. The first patent was in 1993 and they have been around in various forms for a while. The marketing has been very successful recently leading to a country of fidgets where, quite possibly, we didn’t have so many before. We will probably have more people that can’t sit still and concentrate all because it became the must have accessory to be seen with. Shame really but I suspect it will be short lived.

Personally, when on Squadron, they fit into the same category as phones i.e stay put away until canteen.

My daughter suffers from “made-up conditions”, notably OCD and Trichotillomania (look it up). She is on anti-depressants, hasn’t attended school for a year (bullying due to her appearance) and we take regular trips to the local A&E. As part of her management programme (there is no treatment) she uses various devices to distract her, including a spinner. Cadets is one of the few reasons she has for ‘being’.

Shame on some of you for your bigoted and uninformed comments. Are you really to be trusted with youth? Teflon, in particular I find your attitude most distasteful; shall we weed out others on the basis of their admin burden? Perhaps we should start on the girls first, moving on to the Sikhs/Muslims as we have to order different uniform? Absolutely shocking.

Adieu.

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They’re brilliant for teaching flight instruments and gyro principles.:slight_smile:

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Indeed they are.

I think that’s a little simplistic as it’s not just ADHD:slight_smile:. They can benefit children in different ways; for example a child who has difficulty in emotional control can use one to focus on if they feel the signs they are struggling to control, whether diagnosed or not.

Over diagnosis maybe does exist and maybe can be made worse by a “rushed” diagnosis, and some children will improve with age as their emotions mature. It is serious though as a diagnosis in infancy which by the child’s teens is no longer appropriate can block their progress in later life in some respects (career choices etc, just like over diagnosis of Asthma).