Senior Disability Management Advisor
Christy Giambastiani has been at Sonoma State University serving as Senior Disability Management Advisor in Disability Services for Students since August 2007. She received a B.S. in Biology from UCLA.
Prior to coming to SSU, Christy had over 12 years of experience working as a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor and Orientation and Mobility Specialist in California, Canada, and most recently, Australia. She received a Diploma of Guide Dog Instruction from Guide Dogs Victoria, (Australia) and a Certificate IV in Orientation and Mobility, (Vision Impairment Support) from the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind. Christy completed further studies in brain function and neurological vision impairment with Guide Dogs Victoria.
As a mobility specialist, Christy worked in multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams providing mobility services and training, counseling, disability access and advocacy support to adults and children with blindness and other disabilities. She also assessed and trained dogs to become guide dogs and coordinated the Pets as Therapy program.
Christy is originally from California, but has lived in Vancouver, Canada and most recently, Melbourne, Australia, for six years before she returned to the USA in 2006. She enjoys traveling, hiking, gardening, scrap-booking, and spending time with animals, particularly dogs, horses, and her two transplanted Aussie cats.