AWG Secular 12 Step Self-Esteem Group πŸš€


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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


Meeting ID: 824 1142 4876
Code: 781927

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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

Personality testing and self-concept

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Personality quizzes and aptitude tests filled my pre-identification years.

I've been working on Step 6 lately, about how our sense of self has been informed by outside influences. For the first time in a while, I remembered that my pre-identification years were littered with self-testing. All kinds, from the ad-laden online quizzes of the early 2000s, like, "Which animal are you?" or "Which classical music composer are you?", to more scientific-sounding ones like Meyers-Briggs and a range of types of IQ quizzes, and even formal aptitude testing at a research center in my state capital. I was desperately trying to figure out who I was.  Testing felt good, but never seemed to lead to certainty or substantial change.

Maybe all this testing years is part of why I was so skeptical about the results of my first online autism quiz. And my second. And my third. I answered the questions honestly and ended up with the same result: I'm autistic. But for years, I answered other quiz questions honestly and found out I'm a llama. Or Handel. Or an INTJ. Or an average to slightly-above-average IQ. Or well suited to start my own lawncare company.

Fortunately, I kept exploring the idea of autism and evidence I'm autistic just kept mounting up. (So different from when I found out I was a llama. Not much extra evidence for that). But now Step 6 has made me think again about the self-testing of my pre-identification years. I'm wondering if anyone else here went through anything similar.

Share questions:

  • What is your relationship with personality quizzes, IQ tests, aptitude testing, or other kinds of testing? 
  • Have you ever done these kinds of tests informally, for example, a free online quiz? Formally, for example, at a testing center? What was it like?
  • How does/did this testing make you feel? Were you able to build on it? 
  • Do/did any autistic traits inform how you felt/feel about the testing? Black-and-white thinking, demand avoidance, other? 
  • Have you ever done any online autism tests? What was it like? What were your results? How did you feel? Did it feel different than other kinds of testing, or similar?
  • Have you done any personality/aptitude testing since finding out you are autistic? What was it like?
  • Any tools strategies, or resources that helped you think about this topic? 
  • Anything else to share?

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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

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