Review of the literature related to the use and 
effectiveness of performing arts interventions for autistic children to improve social skills

1. Introduction According to some researchers wellbeing and quality of life can be defined as stable when people have the means needed to overcome their own psychological, physical and/or social challenges (Dodge et al., 2012). When these challenges are related to a lack of social skills or socialisation, as it often happens within autistic people (Goldstein et al., 2017), it may be hard to identify what resources we can provide them with, in order 1 for them to overcome them. In this global picture, it is important to highlight the importance not only of drama interventions as a tool to improve social skills, but also, to give agency to the children involved, in terms of enabling them to “initi- ate and lead the action as much as possible” (Beadle-Brown et al., 2017, p.3). The ‘Capability theory approach’ as well as the role of education to be able to give agency to children (Terzi, 2005, p.219), both support the idea that improving social skills could lead to an increase in inclusion and, therefore, an increase in opportunities (Terzi, 2005). This project is inspired by a number of articles identified on drama techniques and their effectiveness on autistic children. The general idea behind the research included in this study is that, since theatre plays such an important role in developing empathy and theory of mind (Verducci, 2000; Levy, 1997; Metcalf, 1931), theatre-based interventions could be used with children on the spectrum to improve skills related to these areas. A number of researches have demonstrated the importance of social cognitive skills in people’s everyday life (Trowsdale & Hayhow, 2013; Goldstein and Winner, 2012), and some research at European level on the- atre studies and performance started to meet cognitive sciences, resulting in international programmes and collaborations (Muscat and Schranz, 2007). Nevertheless, a lot can still be done in order to investigate the deep link between the arts and cognitive neuroscience (Goldstein et al., 2017; Falletti, Sofia &Jacono, 2017). Some work has been done to review the literature on school based drama interventions regarding health promotion (Joronen et al., 2008), and literacy outcomes (Anderson, et al., 2017), as well as to test efficacy of drama interventions when paired with scientific designs (Lerner and Mikami, 2012). Müller et al. (2017) re- search included a literature review on studies about teaching art techniques to students and its “collateral gains in social and emotional learning” (Müller et al., 2017, p. 156). Although Müller’s literature review includes many of the studies identified by this project under the US results section, no reference is made to UK based intervention studies or articles from other countries. A recent systematic review (Mpella, Evaggelinou, 2018) has investigated the role of theatrical play in promoting social skills in autistic students, identifying twelve English studies in the school settings. Findings indicated benefits on social skills improvement, and all studies agreed on the aspect of training for teachers implementing theatre programmes in schools. Although reviewing the literature on the effectiveness of theatre-based interventions in improving social skills in autistic children is the main aim of this study, it is important to have a clearer understanding of the This study will take into account the terms “autistic” and “people on the autism spectrum” as these have been considered preferred 1 terms to describe autism from the UK autism community (Kenny et al., 2016). - - 5