Health Psychology Research / HPR / Online First / DOI: 10.14440/hpr.2685038
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Enhancing Social Skills in Autistic Children through Magic Arts

Rachel Ashcraft1 ,  Emily Delzell1 ,  Mary Mckinney1 ,  Danielle Horne1 ,  Helen Hall1 ,  Callie Anderson1 ,  Laura K. Vogtle1 ,  Kevin Spencer2 ,  Haiyan Qu3 ,  Teresa Taber-Doughty4 ,  Peng Li5 ,  Justin C. Schwartz6 ,  Hon K. Yuen1*
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1 Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, United States of America
2 Hocus Focus, Inc., Benton, Arkansas 72015, United States of America
3 Department of Health Services Administration, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, United States of America
4 Department of Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education and Human Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, United States of America
5 Department of Acute, Chronic and Continuing Care, School of Nursing, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, United States of America
6 Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, United States of America
HPR 2025, 13(2), e81240003 https://doi.org/10.14440/hpr.2685038
Submitted: 13 March 2025 | Accepted: 5 April 2025 | Published: 9 June 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Background

Autistic children often experience challenges with social participation and forming relationships. Previous studies have shown that learning to perform magic effects (i.e., magic tricks) and demonstrating them to others can promote improvements in social behaviors among autistic children.

Objective

This qualitative study used thematic analysis with a phenomenological approach to explore how autistic children and their parents perceived a virtual magic-arts training (MAT) program.

Methods

Fifteen autistic children participated in a virtual magic camp conducted through Zoom (Zoom Communications Inc., United States of America). The program consisted of 45-min sessions, held 3 times/week for 3 weeks, during which participants were trained to perform magic effects for others. Following the program, 1-time semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with both the child participants and their parents.

Results

Three major themes emerged from the participant interviews: (i) increased social motivation, (ii) gained self-confidence in social communication, and (iii) built self-esteem. Participants stated that the ability to demonstrate magic effects for others made them more inclined to initiate and engage in social interactions. Similarly, three themes emerged from the parent interviews regarding their children’s experiences: (i) improved social motivation and social communication, (ii) built children’s self-confidence and self-esteem, and (iii) learned implicitly. Both participants and parents expressed interest in continuing MAT programs.

Conclusion

This study identified several key features and themes related to improved social skills among autistic children following participation in a virtual magic camp. These findings align with existing literature suggesting that programs incorporating special interests can positively influence social participation in autistic children. This study lays the groundwork for developing a conceptual model to better understand the mechanisms linking MAT and social skills improvement.

Keywords
Strengths-based interventions
Social motivation
Social communication
Funding
This research was partially supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (Grant number: 1909503-38).
Conflict of interest
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Health Psychology Research, Electronic ISSN: 2420-8124 Published by Health Psychology Research
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