Christy Smith (Survivor contestant)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christy Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 13, 1978 Aspen, Colorado, U.S. |
| Television | Survivor: The Amazon |
Christy Smith (born September 13, 1978) is an American activist and television personality. She is the first deaf contestant on the CBS reality television series Survivor: The Amazon and co-founder of Discovering Deaf Worlds.
Christy Smith was born premature, weighing less than 2 pounds (0.91 kg). As a baby, she pulled out her air tube and ended up losing 90 percent of her hearing.[1] As such, she is skilled in lip reading and American Sign Language. She resided in Basalt, Colorado.[2]
Education and career
Smith attended high school and college in Washington, D.C. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology with a minor in criminology from Gallaudet University in 2000.[3] After graduating from Gallaudet, she worked at Aspen Camp School for the Deaf as a guide.[4] After competing on Survivor, Smith created Christy's Kids: Challenge Yourself, a television show that debuted on Rocky Mountain PBS in April 2005.[5]
In January 2007, Smith co-founded Discovering Deaf Worlds, an organization which uses world travel to increase deafness awareness.[6]
