First off, let me define ableism. Ableism is discrimination in favor of able-bodied people. In this case, the discrimination was against people with mental (and possibly physical) disabilities. The school might claim that if a student doesn’t have a 504 Plan (a plan to ensure that a student with a diagnosed disability receives accommodations that ensure academic success) or an IEP (Individual Education Plan) (It is a plan or program for a student with a diagnosed disability to receive specialized instruction) that they don’t have a disability bad enough for them to be allowed to have a fidget toy. 8.3% of the kids I surveyed said that they had been told to stop using fidgets because they didn’t have an IEP or 504 Plan. Some of those kids also said they think they have a learning difference. These students have had trouble focusing in class, simply because they don’t have a diagnosis.
And let me tell you this. 19% of the students I surveyed said they think they have a learning difference that might not be diagnosed (they might not be able to sit down for long periods of time or they might not be able to stop moving around, etc.). not being diagnosed shouldn’t make their learning difference invalid.
If a student needs to play around with something to help them focus better during class, they should be allowed to if it’s keeping them more focused. Once it becomes a distraction, then I think the teacher has the right to take it away. 34% of the students I surveyed said that they brought fidgets to school, and 79% of those students said they were asked to stop using them because they didn’t have a diagnosis.
Take this scenario for instance. A kid has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) but doesn’t know it. They think they just have a hard time focusing during class. So, the kid brings a fidget spinner to class and quietly spins it with their fingers. This is helping them focus more, and they are getting better grades because they can pay more attention during class. Then, the teacher sees the fidget spinner one day and says the kid can no longer use it because they don’t have a 504 or an IEP. Their grades begin to decline once again because they are having a hard time focusing without the fidget spinner. Does this seem fair?
Here’s another scenario. A kid is diagnosed with ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder). They have a 504 Plan, and they are allowed to have a fidget toy to help them stay focused. That kid brings a fidget cube, infinity cube, a tangle toy, and a Rubik’s Cube to school one day. The kid uses each of them, making a little bit of noise, more than the kid who didn’t have a diagnosis, and doesn’t get asked to be quieter or to stop playing with a fidget toy. Is this fair?
Sure, the kid has a 504 Plan backing them up, but what about the undiagnosed kid who had ADD? Why did that kid get told to stop? Because they didn’t have a 504 Plan or an IEP. Schools should provide free testing for ADD and ADHD. If people could get tested and diagnosed, more people would be able to use fidget toys for learning and not have them taken away by teachers. All of the people walking around who have a learning difference and no diagnosis have different reasons for not being tested. Their parents might not want to test them, they might not have enough money to even see a doctor, etc. Everyone has their reasons, and a lot of the time, teachers don’t take notice of that.
Let me ask you, should lacking a diagnosis automatically make it so you can’t have a fidget toy? No. Until it becomes a distraction, it should be allowed. Even if it’s undiagnosed, it’s still a learning difference.
Fidget toys should be allowed, until they become a distraction because, bringing us to the point about ableism, forcing kids who have undiagnosed learning differences to get the same treatment as “normal” kids, who don’t have mental illnesses is favoring the “normal” kids because yes, they don’t need the fidgets, but what about the kids who do? You don’t have to have a diagnosed learning difference to have a learning difference. Just because you don’t discover it until a certain point doesn’t mean it didn’t exist until your test came back positive for ADD, ADHD, or any other attention disorder.
People should be allowed to use fidgets whether or not they have a 504 Plan or an IEP. Just because you don’t have a document backing up the fact that you have a mental illness doesn’t mean you don’t have a mental illness.