Basotho ontology of disability: An afrocentric onto-epistemology

Abstract

This theoretical article offers a diachronic analysis that is a rebuttal of ontological hegemony of disability as negative. The article is premised on the Ubuntu paradigm from which African wisdom is mostly anchored in idioms and proverbs. This article emerges as a reflection on a Sesotho proverb: Sehole ho 'Ma-sona ha se lahloe (A child with a disability is never abandoned by the mother). The aim of this article is to demonstrate that Basotho ontology of disability portrays an ubuntu cultural acceptance of people with disabilities as equally human as all human beings. A purposive focus group sample of ten parents of youth with intellectual disability discussed the proverb and shared their experiences of raising a child with disability; and, what the proverb: Sehole ho 'Ma-sona ha se lahloe mean to them? The qualitative data from the focus group was used to support the theoretical adaptation of Basotho ontology in revising the current understanding of disability. The themes reported in this article are: experiences of raising a child with intellectual disability and a child's love begins with a parent.

Keywords: Basotho; Disability; Onto-epistemology; Paternalism; Proverbs; Sehole; Ubuntu feminism.