ABSTRACT
In 1990, self-advocates met in Estes Park, Colorado, for the First North American People First Conference. At that meeting, a steering committee was formed to plan for the establishment of a national organization to unify the state and local chapters and exert political influence at the national level. Later that year they selected a name: Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE). Members of SABE positioned it as an organization within the disability rights movement, not as a charity to help people with disabilities or as an offshoot of a professional or parent organization. SABE stridently supported self-determination. According to SABE, all people with disabilities could exercise control over their lives, including people with developmental disabilities. SABE's emphasis on choice and self-determination stood in stark contrast with the institutional and agency-run group-home models of service delivery. SABE also worked on other major initiatives, including reforms of the criminal-justice system.
