The executive officer and co-founder came together with another mother, Merrin Ayton, to do something about the loneliness and isolation they and their children faced. They will be in Bendigo on Friday night to help local families.

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The organisation ran its first autistic teen peer support social group event in February 2016 and these successful events continue to this day.

"Different Journeys began with myself and another parent, we had teenage autistic children, and there was nothing for them," Ms Spencer said.

"They didn't want to go to therapy, they wanted to do normal things like everybody else, and so we started looking around for supports, and couldn't find anything.

"So we thought we'll start something ourselves.

"We had no idea, the demand or the direction that it was going to take."

The sessions include information on independent living skills, transferable skills, learning things like how to order a meal.

Ms Spencer said it's about "having a safe and supportive environment for them to be able to connect with [others] and for parents to be able to connect, so the journey doesn't feel so alone".

One such session will take place at the Bendigo Club on Friday night from 6pm until 8.30pm.

"The Bendigo club are partnering with us. They're donating their private function room, and all new families that come will get followed up with an offer of one-to-one peer support for carers," Ms Spencer said.

"The teens come together somewhere safe with an opportunity to connect with others in similar circumstances.

"Recognising that we're all on the same journey with autism, but if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism."

There will be board games and online trivia with prizes for teens and their accompanying carers to enjoy, but guests can engage as much as is comfortable.

"If they want to fit on the table by themselves they can and the control is up to them about their level of participation in the night," Ms Spencer said.

"Last month, we had a group of young people who had never met before, by the end of the night, they're all exchanging numbers."

For more information on Different Journeys visit: differentjourneysautism.com/

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