Rachel Wright

Care Resource, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Dr. Rachel Wright is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of special education and human-robot interaction. Her work addresses a critical global challenge: the shortage of qualified special education teachers, particularly for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Wright’s major contributions center on designing and validating autonomous, intelligent robot instructors (IRIs) that can deliver evidence-based pedagogical techniques, such as response prompting, to teach socially valid life skills. Her most cited paper, "Robots Can Teach Students With Intellectual Disabilities" (2018, 17 citations), demonstrates the powerful educational benefits of combining robotic systems with augmented reality applications to support this underserved population. In her foundational 2015 work (8 citations), she proposed the framework for creating robots that can autonomously prompt and instruct students with intellectual disabilities, addressing both the unique challenges and the compelling opportunities of this technology. Wright’s research is notable for its direct societal impact, offering a scalable solution to a pressing educational crisis. By proving that robots can effectively deliver specialized instruction, she is helping to democratize access to quality education for students with I/DD, making her work essential reading for researchers in assistive technology, special education, and socially assistive robotics.