Three trainees joined the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities (MCDD) during the fall semester. Learn more about Nia Adams, Abby Budman and Meaghan Farnham:
Nia Adams is a senior at Towson University majoring in health education and promotion with a minor in d/Deaf studies. (Kennedy Krieger uses “d/Deaf” to be inclusive of both hearing status and cultural identity.) She developed an interest in working with people with disabilities from her family experiences, as well as information she has learned from previous research. Her goals while with the MCDD were to gain a well-rounded exposure to the field by engaging in a number of MCDD projects, live interviews and shadowing opportunities. She enjoyed learning how to translate scientific information into practice and advocating for individuals with disabilities while increasing her knowledge of health education. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to attend graduate school for epidemiology, where she can continue her education studying the movements and patterns of infectious diseases.
Abby Budman is a senior at Towson University majoring in health education and promotion with a minor in family studies. She established an interest in working with individuals with disabilities through her experience in activity-related programs for youth with disabilities, and through her health education-related research. During her time with the MCDD, she advanced her knowledge related to individuals with developmental disabilities and developed a research project targeting specific ways to help those in the developmental disabilities community. She enjoyed furthering her skills in research involving development and family-centered issues, building on her prior knowledge of the MCDD community and of developmental health-related topics. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to attend graduate school to become a child life specialist and continue to help children and families with disabilities, and those with chronic medical diagnoses and experiences of trauma.
Meaghan Farnham is a third-year law student at the University of Baltimore and associate editor of the University of Baltimore’s Law Forum. She graduated from Loyola University Maryland in May of 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. During her time at Loyola, she volunteered with The Arc Baltimore, which ignited her passion for disability advocacy. She has also volunteered with the Truancy Court Program at the Academy for College and Career Exploration in Baltimore and the Women’s Law Center of Maryland, which sparked her interest in legal inclusion and equity. She will graduate in May of 2022 and hopes to pursue a career in civil litigation.
