In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the issue's role in campaign politics. In the 2016 campaign, a number of posts discussed Trump's bad record on disability issues more generally. As his words and actions have shown, he despises Americans with disabilities.
People with disabilities say President Trump's DEI purge is eroding health care, education and legal protections they've only won in recent decades.
Why it matters: The Trump administration has taken actions that undermine accessibility measures — critical for leveling the playing field for people with disabilities — as part of its efforts targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts."It's very clear that there is an orchestrated attack by conservatives to dismantle the rights of people with disabilities," said Shawn Murinko, a Washington resident who has cerebral palsy.
State of play: Trump last month ordered an end to all federal programs that mandate or invoke accessibility, alongside diversity, equity and inclusion.The Department of Justice said it will penalize programs that promote accessibility.
Trump has pledged to close the Department of Education, which enforces protections for students with disabilities in school.
Meanwhile, Food and Drug Administration officials said the word "disabled" was banned from external communications, though the White House later claimed that was an error.
Cuts to National Institutes of Health funding also threaten existing and future disability research.
The federal government is one of the largest employers for people with disabilities, but return-to-office mandates could force some out of their jobs.
For Cara Pugliese, the email came at 4:54 p.m. on Saturday, 15 February. According to a Facebook post that Pugliese published on 18 February, her employer, the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), wrote that she was “not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge, and skills do not fit the Agency’s current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the Agency.”
Pugliese was chief of the Autism, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Externalizing Disorders Interventions Research program. Her abrupt termination is “ridiculous,” says Laura Anthony, professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, who has mentored and worked with Pugliese since 2013. “She’s such an amazing scientist, and creative and working hard to get interventions out to where kids and families are who need them,” adds Anthony, who has corresponded with Pugliese since receiving the news of her layoff. “She has been a superstar [at the NIMH] as well.”
Pugliese joins what is now reported as 1,165 National Institutes of Health employees cut from the agency since 14 February. The layoffs mostly targeted probationary employees, including Pugliese, who had held her position for 344 days—just 21 days shy of completing her one-year probationary period, according to her 18 February Facebook post, which has been shared more than 26,000 times. (Representatives at the NIMH have not responded to The Transmitter’s email and phone requests for comment.)
