How to share: Changing unhelpful beliefs

As you drafted your story, you might have noticed some words or ideas that you had written about yourself that did not feel very helpful for you to get what you need. The ideas may even have felt unhelpful for you to hold onto. These are known as hurtful self-beliefs or self-stigma. 

Sharing your hurtful self-beliefs can increase the other person’s stigma towards you. Working towards turning those beliefs around can help to decrease public stigma and self-stigma.

Let's hear from two autistic adults who powerfully demonstrate what challenging public stigma and self-stigma can look like. As you watch these videos or read the transcripts, pay attention to how they counter common stereotypes and harmful misconceptions about autistic people.

Now, you can use the worksheet below to identify any unhelpful beliefs you may hold about yourself and replace them with more accurate and compassionate self-descriptions. 

Note: Long-held beliefs can be hard to change even when you know they are unhelpful. Changing your hurtful self-beliefs may not happen while you are completing this guide, but rather very slowly with time. If you find that self-stigma is affecting your mental health, you may wish to turn to mental health services such as those listed in our Support Resources.

If you haven’t identified any hurtful self-beliefs, you can skip this exercise.