Disability References Removed From White House Website
As President Donald Trump took office, nearly every reference to disabilities on the White House website disappeared.
The online presence of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. got a revamp tailored to its new resident after Trump’s swearing in on Friday and, with the changeover, came a noticeably reduced emphasis on disability matters.
A section on disabilities was one of more than two dozen issues listed prominently on the homepage of whitehouse.gov during former President Barack Obama’s tenure.
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The outgoing administration’s site featured information on expanding education and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act and a video tour of the White House in sign language, among other materials.
Now, however, links to the disability pages return an error.
Trump did not make disability issues a focus during his campaign, though he drew fire as a candidate for appearing to mock a reporter with a disability, which he denied doing.
Searches for disabilities or disability on the new version of whitehouse.gov yield just nine results including two related to Grover Cleveland.
The retooled White House website indicates that Vice President Mike Pence’s wife, Karen Pence, intends to use her platform as second lady to focus on art therapy, which is used with those who have autism and other developmental disabilities, among other conditions.
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