Let Them Fidget: Fidgeting in Children With ADHD May Actually Help Them Learn, Says Study

Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often in trouble for fidgeting too much inside the classroom. However, what people fail to realize is that this might be their own way of shifting their attention into something that needs their focus.

A new study suggests that fidgeting helps children with ADHD learn. Michael Kofler, an assistant professor of psychology at Florida State University in Tallahassee said that their work is set to challenge thoughts that suggest hyperactivity as a core problem in ADHD.

He said: "When we think of it as a deficit, we are saying it's a bad thing and it's interfering with schoolwork," US News reports.

According to Newson6, the research team handed 25 boys and girls with ADHD between the ages 8-12 a series of memory tasks so they can observe how much fidgeting they make while doing the tasks. One set required the students to remember a series of dots that appeared on the screen. They then have to place it back in order mentally according to color. After the dots, they were given numbers and letters to memorize, and then mentally reorder them starting with numbers from smallest to biggest, followed by the letters.

The researchers noticed that the children fidgeted all throughout the test but fidgeted more when they forget how many things they needed to memorize. This led Kofler to conclude that demands on the memory affect the level of hyperactivity of children with ADHD.

This study reflects another study done by Dr. Trevor Resnick, a pediatric neurologist at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami. He said, "We've known [intuitively] for many years that kids with ADHD often do better when they are fidgeting."

However, Dr. Resnick explained that the reason why children with ADHD fidget is still not clear. He said that it's not entirely sure that fidgeting helps them think more, or if that is merely the effect of being anxious.

Kofler advised teachers and parents that until new evidence of why students fidget is made available, their focus should be more on the work these children are getting done rather than how they did it.