Social Exclusion and Social Inclusion: Looking for an Emancipatory Alternative in the Human Sciences

the article discusses social exclusion by problematizing the way in which this concept has been treated in the Human Sciences. The analysis develops from brief outline on the antinomies of modern society and current trends in the human sciences to then present a reflection on the relationships between everyday life and modern society. Finally, he discusses the potential of Vygotsky's proposal as an emancipatory alternative. It is concluded that Vygotsky opens perspectives for a qualitatively new theoretical understanding of what is deficiency and about the different practical and therapeutic experiences as a system Exclusão social e inclusão social: à procura de uma alternativa emancipatória nas Ciências Humanas Resumo: o artigo discute a exclusão social problematizando a forma pela qual este conceito tem sido tratado nas Ciências Humanas. A análise se desenvolve a partir de breve esboço sobre as antinomias da sociedade moderna e as tendências atuais nas ciências humanas para, em seguida, apresentar uma reflexão sobre as relações entre vida cotidiana e sociedade moderna. Por fim discute o potencial da proposta de Vigotski como alternativa emancipatória. Conclui-se que Vigotski abre perspectivas para uma compreensão teórica qualitativamente nova sobre o que é deficiência e sobre as diferentes experiências práticas e terapêuticas como sistema.

Feeling vibrations from a hearing and dual-sensory impaired perspective

Working with hearing and dual-sensory impaired clients presents challenges for music therapy professionals. Feeling and experiencing the vibrations produced by music help to understand what the concept of music is. Music and vibroacoustic therapies have overlapping effects. Music is for listening while vibroacoustic therapy is mainly similar to physiotherapy. Where vibroacoustic (VA) facilities are not available, some flexible methods could be adapted. One can use a music centre with two separate, moveable speakers positioned on a wooden floor to enhance music vibrations. In conjunction inflatable balloons can be manipulated by the clients. Balloons can be held towards the sound source and used to test the variations of the intensity and dynamics of the vibrations in the room. The choice of music styles plays an important role to amplify the vibrations and introduce music to the clients. Clients’ feedback was very positive indicating they were able to feel some musical tones from low, middle and high levels. These methods appeared to enhance musical vibrations and give some therapeutic experiences, i.e. relaxation and awareness of musical tones. This approach has been tested over 25 years and the individual feedback supports notions on how tones are felt through the body.