Am I being irrational here?

[Angie97797]

So idk if a lot of you know about fidgets, I mean, probably, this is an autism forum.

they’re just something to fidget with, I’m fine with them, I occasionally use them.

My problem is the dumb people that use them as toys and just make them in-usable for those who actually need them.

It’s like, these are made for people with autism, ADHD, and anxiety disorders to keep calm, or at least that’s what they’re original purpose was.

But now they’ve been made into nothing but toys and I find it just so annoying. They aren’t allowed in schools, adults are criticized for using them, it’s just so annoying to me.

The reason I thought about this is because there’s this account I noticed when I was scrolling on YouTube Shorts (I won’t say the name of the channel because I don’t want them to be attacked) and they just intentional annoy people in public with fidgets.

It’s just really annoying. I don’t know if imm being irrational for being annoyed about it, but I jsut am. I know it sounds dumb, I mean I don’t really use them, but I know people that do.

like all of us understand how freeing being able to stim is, right? That’s how I felt when Intried to use them, it was jsut really comforting.

Again, my problem, is like people who aren’t neuro-divergent treating them like toys and using them improperly so that we aren’t allowed to use them in public and such.

like already teachers don’t even allow us to stim in classes (or at least they didn’t allow it in my elementary school, it was always “stag still, stop moving” blah blah blah) now they’re taking another thing away from us and I’m just annoyed by it.

 

[Tom]

Not really familar with them. All we had were rocks, and sticks to figit with if you could find them. And those were certainly multipurpose, something we had to learn to accept. I did however feel somewhat more sophisticated in rock and especially stick appreciation and could recognize a really nice one from far away. Something NTs would just walk past or even step over. I still will stop to pick up an interesting one to this day.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I believe the issue is in the marketing of these devices. They marketed them as toys for the general population,...not for autistic individuals.

As an educator, I want my students to pay attention,...and if someone in the class appears to be not paying attention, or is distracting the other students with "fidget devices", it is not conducive to good classroom learning. Now,...having said that,...I do have empathy, I am autistic myself,...if I know that a particular student is autistic, I do give them some slack, but also ask that they be seated in the front of the class where I can engage with them a little more.

When I was a kid, there was no such thing as a fidget device, but we had other things,...those spring-loaded click pens. Put those on a desk, "click" and the pen would bounce,..."click",..."click",..."click",...drove my teachers nuts. If it wasn't that, it was toe tapping and leg bouncing,...something,...couldn't sit still in class.

 

[Owliet]

Best toy that I have is this squishy ball that I can keep unobserved in my pocket.

 

[ZebraAutismo]

No I completely get what your saying. The general public have stigmatised fidget toys for us. I feel like it would be awful to be at school now because I know my fidgets would be taken away as their banned at most schools. I’m at a Neurodivese college now so not an issue. Fidget toys are widely on offer.

 

[Aspychata]

Best toy that I have is this squishy ball that I can keep unobserved in my pocket.

Me too. Just the squishy texture grabs me. Lol

 

[Gracey]

I don't think it irrational to feel upset over misuse of an item that brings you comfort.

Trying to stop it happening globally may be irrational,
but feeling some way about what you watched on You Tube isn't irrational.