Many of you may be asking yourself, “How does a magician get into education?”

Very early in my career, I was in a very bad accident.  A semi-truck crushed the car I was in.  I woke up in neurological intensive care with a closed head injury and a lower spinal cord injury.  I spent the next several months in physical and occupational therapy.  While I understand the importance of therapy, it was often frustrating and boring to do many of the exercises.

As a result, I developed a program that uses magic tricks as a fun way for patients to reach therapeutic goals and achieve self-efficacy.  Magic tricks provide therapists with a valuable new tool to motivate their patients to become more involved in their therapy.

In addition to increasing motivation levels, there is a significant boost to the individual’s self-esteem.  But most importantly, by learning and performing these simple tricks, patients can transfer the skills they learn into activities of daily living
Today, the concepts of this type of therapy – Healing of Magic – are being used in more than 2,000 facilities in over 30 countries around the world.

It was through my work with Occupational Therapists that I was first exposed to working with children with learning differences – especially those with Sensory Integration Disorders, ADHD, Emotional Behavior Disorder, Learning Disabilities, and those on the Autism spectrum.

I grew to understand that developing a healthy self-concept and self-esteem are essential to children with learning disabilities but in no way exclusive to them.  Empowering all children to feel good about themselves and their accomplishments can increase their motivation to try harder, take more risks, and continue to build their self-confidence.

The research we have conducted over the last year has demonstrated that all children can benefit – academically and functionally – by learning and performing magic as a means to strengthen the overall learning process and develop a healthy self-esteem. Through the Hocus Focus™ curriculum, learning experiences for all children can be less ordinary and more extraordinary.  We have carefully selected several magic trick that can provide students with significant advancements in:

(1)  critical thinking,

(2)  problem solving,

(3)  creativity, and

(4)  retention as well as

(5)  an impact on the metacognitive process,

(6)  and self-system process.