In Anne’s keynote, she will be talking about how she gained self-confidence through peer to peer relationships. She’ll talk about how gaining confidence was critical to be able to get involved in real, meaningful ways in my community. This was also critical to have the confidence that she could make major and minor decisions about life. These decisions included hiring her own support staff, feeling good about going to activities in the community, with or without friends or support staff, and working in a job that is meaningful. Anne hope that when people walk away they will be willing to support self-advocates and give people a chance to build relationships with each other and realize that together we can make decisions of our own.