Not a lot of research has been done on how theatre can benefit children/adults with special needs. It is a burgeoning field, so there are really only a handful of major studies out on the subject.
The first is titled "Improvement in Social Competence Using a Randomized Trial of a Theatre Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder" which was in the February 2016 issue of The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. You can find the link here. If you are a college/graduate student and your school library offers a subscription to journal databases you can read it for free. Otherwise, it is a pretty penny; but worth it if you are interested in the topic. It talks about how interactions children with autism have while participating in theatre training can improve their social skills.
Another paper written on the topic of Autism and Theatre is "The Effects of Drama Therapy For Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder". This is a 2013 graduate level senior thesis, so take it for what it is. Read it here. Drama Therapy is using theatre to deal with social and emotional issues facing students. It can be done in many different forms and in many different settings. It is somewhat different from mainstream theatre, in that it often does not culminate in some type of performance.
I know I linked this in the second post, but it fits well here. A 2010 study titled "The Effects of Creative Drama on Social and Oral Language Skills of Children with Learning Disabilities" was published in the Youth Theatre Journal. Read it here. This study focuses on creative drama (which is a sub-section of educational theatre as a whole) and its impact on the remediation of social and language skills.
Hopefully with the continuing interest in these two fields more research will start to emerge. But it is heartening to know that what researchers have come across thus far has supported the claim we already have: theatre is great for kids with special needs. And, okay, for everyone.
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