Space
A fundamental part of people’s existence is their emplacement in space and their relationships with objects that are geographically located at different points or places. Space is one of the major axioms of being and of life itself. It is where we are located, the places where we live and move around, and the multiple relationships that take shape among them. Space is characterized by the primacy of what Paterson and Hughes (1999, 607) describe as “non-impaired carnality,” or the projection of the body-normal as the embodiment of those without impairment. Wherever one goes, one is reminded of the absolutism of the nonimpaired body and the crafting of space as places that are not easily accessible to, or usable by, people with different types of impairment. For example, from the design of steps into public buildings that prevent wheelchair access, to the absence of legible signage that may prevent ease of way finding, the construction of space is characterized by an inequality of provision. This is a world that Tony Fry aptly describes as “surrounded by things designed to function in ways that go unquestioned and absolutely taken for granted” (2009, 29).