Analyzing interaction involving wheelchairs

Background: This study shows how the use of wheelchairs due to mobility impairment influences the configuration of interactional spaces and the initiation of conversation. It takes as a case in point the spatial arrangements and interactions between sports students using wheelchairs and their co-participants in a Danish sports high school. Method: Using the framework of research into ethnomethodological conversation analysis (EMCA) in atypical multimodal interaction, this study demonstrates how co-participants with and without impairments consider factors such as the position, size, design, and maneuverability of the wheelchair when they configure interactional spaces and organize conversational beginnings, and how the bodily orientation of the wheelchair user toward a specific physical environment and space is also taken into account. Furthermore, the co-participants’ conversation is adapted to fit these arrangements. The study describes features of spatial configurations that apply irrespective of the presence, type, and degree of disability in speech, language, and communication among the co-participants. The study draws on 10 hours of video recordings. Results and conclusion: The study indicates a need to investigate everyday conversation in its natural surroundings. Detailed descriptions of how co-participants draw upon available material, technological, and bodied ‘modes’ as resources may re-specify our understanding of aspects of conversations when impairments are involved.