1. Home
  2. AWG Self-Esteem

AWG Secular 12 Step Self-Esteem Group 🚀


Access this page in bionic reading here. 

Looking for the old site? All of the original materials are still available on https://awg12steps.wordpress.com/

On this page:

Zoom access and meeting times Meeting description Workbook Readings
Zoom access and meeting times

Meetings are every Tuesday from 11 am to 12 pm Eastern US Time. See Meeting Time in a Different Time Zone (normal calendar)


* Zoom link not working? Search the meeting ID below in the Zoom meeting database and then use the code to sign in: 

Meeting ID: 824 1142 4876
Code: 781927


Emails will be sent out to mailing list members in the rare case of a cancellation.
Get a weekly email reminder for meetings

Submit your email to receive a reminder each week about the upcoming AWG Self-Esteem group meeting
Your email address is only used to send you our newsletter and information about our activities. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Meeting description

This is a secular 12 Step meeting focused on self-esteem recovery for late-identified autistic women and members of all other marginalized genders (nonbinary, gender fluid, MTF/FTM trans, agender, autigender, and more). 

We meet each Tuesday on Zoom, practice the AWG 12 Steps using the AWG 12 Step Workbook, share in response to weekly readings, and participate in the optional co-mentorship program if we so desire. 

It is not mandatory to turn on your mic or camera. Coming to listen is totally fine. By taking part, we hold space for others, and ourselves, to participate in a way that is manageable for us as we exist right now.

It is not necessary to actively be doing the AWG 12 Steps in order to be a full participant. Any contact with the group and its resources can be beneficial as long as it’s sustainable for each of us as individuals. Many of us participate simply by attending meetings.

As we participate in this meeting over time, we might find ourselves seeking to…

  • Find our own concept of self-esteem and grow toward it
  • Come to discover a more realistic sense of our place in the world
  • Reassess our relationships, especially in terms of our responsibilities towards ourselves and others
  • Come to understand personal boundaries, their roles in our lives, and how to develop and maintain healthy boundaries
  • Understand the concept of nonviolent detachment and how and when to enact it
  • Develop more manageable lifestyles
  • Develop a sense of self that leads to more health, well being, and manageability in our lives
  • Release others from the responsibility of defining or reinforcing our sense of self-esteem
  • Form personal goals about self-esteem and self-concept based on our own understanding of our own needs, as they exist today

AWG 12 Step Self-Esteem Readings

My hair odyssey

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Looking back to pre-identification, my hair was one of the biggest visible pieces of evidence of my autism. Part 3 of 4 shares on body image.

My hair represents the intersection of two dynamics that defined my pre-identification years: needing to mask and not knowing what to project. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what to get my hair to "say" about me. And even if I had known, I didn't have the spoons to do anything about it. I lived for years in hair purgatory: looking  back, my hair was one of the biggest visible pieces of evidence of my autism during my pre-identification years.

I've gone through hair evolutions. Short hair, buzzcut, shoulder-length, butt-length, platinum blonde, and even bald, shaved with a razor. Each time I made the decision to try something new, part of me hoped, and even believed, that it would lead me to my true self. Am I the girl with the pixie cut who's the life of the party? Am I a quasi-monk who others silently esteem from afar? No matter what look I tried, the answer was always no. I was just still me… but what did that mean? My self-image and self-esteem were a big blank, and my hair was a symptom of that.

Today, I'm sporting the lowest-possible-spoons look: Head and Shoulders once a day, brush it once or twice a day (mostly to prevent hair from getting all over the place, thus costing me spoons to clean the floor), never cutting it, never styling it. I bunch it up on the top of my head when my neck gets hot. At last, I feel like it's "my" hair, because the link between its appearance, my identity, and my day-to-day needs and capabilities is clear. That part of my self-image and self-esteem, at least, is now straightforward.

What about you? What's the relationship between your hair and your self-image? Self-esteem?

Share questions:

  • What is your relationship with your hair? 
  • Where does your hair fit into your self-image? Sense of self-esteem? 
  • Has your relationship with your hair changed since you learned you are autistic? 
  • Taking inspiration from our Steps, where does your hair fit into your personal values? Your self-care? Your relationships with other individuals and groups? 
  • If you could change one thing about your relationship with your hair, what would it be? 
  • Any tools, strategies, or resources to share? 
  • Anything else to add?
No comments yet

AWG 12 Step Self-Esteem Workbook

Step 1

We admitted that despite our efforts, many of the factors affecting our sense of self and self-esteem seemed out of control, leading to increased unmanageability in our lives.

Step 2

Coming Soon

Step 3

Coming Soon

Step 4

Coming Soon
Search
This website may use cookies and external scripts. More information