Sentence:  If the patient can perceive figure kinesthetically when he cannot perceive it visually , then , it would seem , the sense of touch has immediate <WSD>contact</WSD> with the spatial aspects of things in independence of visual representations , at least in regard to two dimensions , and , as we shall see , even this much spatial awareness on the part of unaided touch is denied by the authors . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  the state or condition of touching or of being in immediate proximity