Tool or toy ?: Why can whipping toys injure as many children as they help? HealthThe so-called ferret toys that enter classrooms in North America are billed as a way to calm troubled children and help them focus. But some experts say that they could harm as many children as they help.
Spinning, buzzing and clicking devices are especially aimed at children who have attention or concentration problems or sensory difficulties, such as those diagnosed with autism or related disorders.
"We call them tools of fidjandis because they are really tools."
- Terri Duncan, Autism Services for Children of EdmontonScholar's Choice, a chain of educational toy stores, sells over 80 products of this type on its website.
"Fidgets are designed to help children with special needs to concentrate or cope with their ever-changing need. They also help children think and stay calm, Said the shop.
Terri Duncan, of Children's Autism Services of Edmonton, swears.
"We call them fidjandis tools because they are really tools," she told CBC News. "Sometimes this helps to regulate other sensory information.Sometimes this helps them to calm down and to concentrate.Sometimes this helps them to breathe and relax.This is a little different for each child".
There are centrifuges and slot cubes, scallop balls, fuzzy rings, puzzles, mastic and even jaws - colorful and tactile objects to meet the distinct needs of the children she sees .
"It can also prevent children from chewing their fingers, pick themselves in their hands, choose their clothes, that kind of thing," Duncan said.
Too distracting
But more and more children are using them to simply relieve stress and daily anxiety.
Dr. Jennifer Crosbie, a clinical psychologist at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, agrees that fidji toys may be useful but say that the new devices are more toys than tools and are not likely To have the desired effect.
"They certainly do not have the attributes that are usually associated with the types of rage and sensory toys traditionally used with children with a range of conditions," Crosbie told CBC News.
On the one hand, a waving toy should involve a movement or movement on the part of the child who is using it, allowing them to free up excess d ' 39; energy.
"This really is a kind of address that must move and allows them to focus on something else," Crosbie explains.
Conner Peterson, 12, has a misophony, which has resulted in anxious and obsessive compulsive behaviors.He says his fagouille acts to cope with his symptoms (Brett Purdy / CBC)Winnipeg psychologist, Kirsten Wirth, says there is not enough evidence that toys help children to concentrate.
"There is a difference between what we call anecdotal evidence and what research actually shows," Wirth said. "Because there might be some placebo effect happening where we feel something helps, but that may or may not help."
To be more effective, says Crosbie, crazy toys should be selected according to the attributes of each child, in discussion with parents, teachers and other experts, as in the case of Peterson.
"I actually retain crazy toys as ... a very good example of how not all accommodations and recommendations work just as well for individuals," Crosbie says. "For some children this can be really useful, but for an equal number of children, it ends up being a distraction and does not help us as we hope.
HEALTH COACH -
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