1. Early Childhood & Disability in
sub-Saharan Africa
a
Tirussew Teferra
Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

2. Discussion Points
1. What are the major early childhood
disabling factors in sub-Saharan Africa ?
2. What children’s do during early
childhood period.
4. Conflicting conceptions about early
childhood development.
5. Early intervention practices &
consequences.
6. Some reflections

3. Major disabling factors in
sub-Saharan Africa
 Childhood infectious diseases & lack of immunization
 Under nutrition, personal & environmental hygiene
 Health condition of prospective mothers
 Lack of access to medical services during prenatal,
natal & postal period
 Harmful disabling traditional practices & civil strife
 Genetic anomalies
 Note : Most of them are preventable

4. Profile & prevalence of
disability in Ethiopia
MO-42
%
VI-30 %
HI-15 %
ID-7%%
BE-2% 2 %
MU-4% 4
%
Base Line Survey [ 1995]

5. What do CwoDs do
in Early Childhood period during
sub-Saharan Africa?
 Most children ( 3 & above) are at home and
out-side home out in the field engaged in
different tasks /gender based analysis/
The girl child
- Mainly engaged in domestic tasks such as
house hold chores, errands, cooking ,cleaning
and taking care of siblings
- Fetching water & fire wood

6. Children in the range of 3-6
looking after cattle in Ethiopia

7. What do CwoDs do in Early
Childhood Period in sub-Saharan
Africa? Cont…
The boy Child
 Boys are mainly engaged in out-side tasks
such as herding cattle & assist in farming
 In the urban areas boys and girls work as
daily laborers, vendors (selling cigarettes,
lottery, news papers, food items etc.)
 In pastoral areas children move from place to
place with their parents & clans

8. What do CwoDs do during Early
Childhood period in sub-Africa?
Cont…
 Limited access to early childhood education
– Community-based
– Faith-based: Traditional & Modern
preschools
– Public -based: Zero classes attached with
primary schools/Government owned KGs
– Private : International/local
Note : Almost all of them them are not
accessible to children with disabilities

9. Zero Classes(preschools attached
to primary schools – New
beginning

10. What do CwDs do during Early
Childhood Period in sub-Saharan
Africa?
 The conditions of CwDs varies based on the
nature & severity of the problem as well as the
economic conditions of the family
 Children with severe intellectual
disabilities, multiple disabilities and
cerebral palsy and other chronic health
conditions stay at home idle

11. What do CwDs do during early
childhood period in sub-Saharan
Africa? Cont…
– Blind children are engaged mainly in
domestic house hold tasks
– Children with language disorders, children
with mild intellectual disability children
with hearing impairment (deaf & hard of
hearing) , & children with low vision are
engaged in the domestic and out-side tasks
like children with out disabilities.
Note: presence of inclusion out-side school

12. What do CwDs do during early
childhood period in sub-Saharan
Africa? Cont…
 CwDs are taken for treatment by their
parents mainly by mothers to religious
places as well to different traditional
healers.
 Several of them are engaged in begging
around churches, mosques and on the
street.

13. Conflicting Conceptions about Early
Childhood in Ethiopia
Metaphors conveying the importance of early
care and intervention:
 “ Lejen be tut ehilen be tikiment” [ As
the right time for harvest is on the month of
October; the time for shaping the child’s
behavior is during the period of breast
feeding]
 “ Zaf belejenet yetarekal” [ As
straightening a tree during its nursery stage
is easy; it is easy to mold the child’s behavior

14. Conflicting conceptions of Early
Childhood in Ethiopia cont…
Metaphors related to discouraging interacting
with children :
 “ Zemta Worke New ” (Remaining quite is
highly appreciated )
 “ Ke lej atchawet yewogahal benchet” [don’t
play with the a child, if you do he will poke your eyes ;
discouraging from playing or interacting with children
]
 “ Ke Le Yeg wle Lej Hone ” [ one who
associates with child will be considered as a
child ]

15. Conflicting conceptions of Early
Childhood in Ethiopia
Metaphors related to differential
treatments:
 “ Le Lej shero le awake doro ” [give a
child an ordinary food ; but a quality for an
adult, discriminating the child from dining
quality food like that of the adult]
 “ Lej ena fit ayeberdewum” ( it does not
matter if the child does not properly dress,
he/she does not feel cold like that of a human
face)

16. Traditional practices of Early
Childhood Care
 Useful Practices
-Breast feeding( lactating), & strong
emotional attachment/ frequent physical
contact mainly with the mother
-Communal up-bringing, that is,
Involvement of the extended family,
neighbors & the community in child
care, character formation & protection
from any from of abuse


17. Traditional practices of Early
Childhood Care
 Useful practices & resources cont…
-“ Gudifecha” Adoption of abandoned
children
- Sibling take-caring (child to child)
-Story-telling traditions , availability of
different types of stories, games,
playing materials etc.

18. Traditional practices of Early
Childhood Care
 Harmful Practices
 Milk teeth extraction, tonsillectomy, female
genital mutilation, mutilation of the skin in
the forehead, eyebrow of their babies etc.
 Prevalence of corporal punishment at home
and in schools
 Verbal abuse such as yelling, deploring,
cursing, terrifying & chastising for shaping
children’s behaviors
 Note: Prevalence of derogatory &
dehumanizing terms addressing CwDs

19. Traditional practices of Early
Childhood Care
 Harmful Practices cont…
-Discouraging children from sitting &
discussing with adults
-Prevalence of early marriage, abduction
& child labor
-Limited role of fathers on early child
care
-Large family size & lack of family

20. Conceptions about disabling factors
& CwDs
 Wrong deeds & being cursed
 Possessed by evil spirit
{subject to neglect & rejection}
 Unable to learn/underestimation {subject to
charity & dependency}
 Hopeless and incompetent {overprotection )
Note: The negative attitudes have been
recognized as more disabling than the
disability per se !!

21. Early intervention practices to cure
or offset the impact of disability
 Religious Intervention practices
-Deep prayer and submitting to readings
of different religious texts,
-Sprinkling or drinking of holy water,
-Swallowing blessed food and gelling
blessed materials “eminet “on the body
etc.

22. Early intervention practices to
cure or offset the impact of
disability cont…
 Secular Intervention practices
 Herbal medicine
 Amulet to hang on the Neck
 Indigenous psychotherapy
 Indigenous physiotherapy

23. Inclusive Education : Roadmap to
the Education of CwDs in Ethiopia

24. Inclusive Education : Roadmap to
the Education of CwDs in Ethiopia
 CwIDs
 General Classroom

25. Reflections
 Develop and introduce cost effective
inclusive ECCE programs that could
accommodate the needs of diverse
learners.
 Sensitize, parents, teachers, children & the
community about useful and harmful
childrearing practices.
 Educate parents & teachers about child
development, disability and care.

26. Reflections Cont…
 Promote school-parent partnership in
the prevention, detection, assessment &
intervention of children with
disabilities.
 Compile local children stories, methods
of story-telling, children games &
playing materials etc., & cross-fertilize
in the preparation of ECCE programs as
teaching -learning materials.

27. Benshangul –Gemuz /Pawe /Hot and
remote Area in Ethiopia ,2011
Thank you !!