By some estimates, anywhere from 3%-7% of school-aged children have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The percentage is much more severe in comedians and movie stars (by my estimate of their self proclaimed diagnosis on late night TV shows). Which explains the need for gadgets such as “The Attention-Getter” a toy looking stopwatch that emits loud and funny sounds to get the attention of students.
So innovative, it comes with pre-recorded sounds of Tarzan, a Rooster, and a Race-Track. Works equally well with dogs. Of lesser value, it can actually be used as a plain stopwatch.
Or you can go with the Yacker Tracker a traffic light looking gadget. You select the level of noise from 50 dB to 110 dB. The Green light tells children that noise is appropriate, a flashing yellow light warns your ADHD kids that noise levels are getting too high. When the rowdy kids breach your upper limit, the red light goes off. But wait. What kind of attention deficit disorder gadget stops at a red light? That’s why the red light also sets off siren sounds! For maximum performance, you should have some sort of disciplinary consequence upon reaching the red level. Apparently, it cancels school noise so well, that some like the idea of using the gadget in their own home.
Most of the arguments against the Yacker Tracker are similar to those of a cheap, self-installed car alarm: it is too sensitive and has many false alarms. Such trivial things like a child sneezing, coughing, or even dropping a book can set the device off. Also, some argue that kids actually view the device as a game. One user points out: “If there is no consequence, it can become a toy and the children will intentionally speak loudly to get it to go off.”
