A "job" is not for you my friend

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Jobs are difficult to get, harder to keep. They often don't pay so well, or work you to the bone.
And that is not including terrible work conditions such as bad bosses/coworkers, unethical businesses, horrible customers.

With that in mind the only solution is to work for yourself; self employment.
Start your own business. (Though if it employs people you may have to deal with office politics that they do to each other, however that can be managed; not literally - the last thing you want is a manager to become part of the terror).

Ideally you will have a part time job (can be difficult to find), or cut your days down in your current job.
Starting a business will be a lot of hard work.

You will need to focus on high value items $50 minimum.
A product that people 'need' or perceive to 'need'. Some people 'need' smart phones.
This is because you don't want to have to market or 'sell' your product, selling is a pain, no one wants to spend money.
Make sure your market is not swamped with competition.
Demand must be strong, if consumers only buy one every 5 years it might not be the best item to base your business off.

Be the inventor of something new.
Be able to copyright/trademark/patent (or keep the spice mix secret - aka Kentucky Fried Chicken).
Be the manufacturer & wholesaler, also retailer (easy enough on ebay these days).
Wholesaler doubles the price, retailer doubles price again.
Ideally you want the product to be cheap to manufacture (cost of materials), and easy to manufacture (time & production volumes).

Another advantage is that you can work from home, and converse via skype, email, txt message.
You are the boss so any employees will be doing things your way (it doesn't matter how weird they think you are, you're the boss).
It's ideal now that many "jobs" are being replaced by computers. Or being lost to other countries.
Even jobs that are vanishing, though you could specialise in one of these, as you can charge much more for this kind of home/hand made work these days. But that would be a very niche business.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGkcgGf2Fzw
This guy makes weapons from computer games, RPG Dungeons & Dragons, etc. I'm not sure if he does, but he could potentially sell these items on ebay for thousands, and make things to order. That is on top of the ad revenue from youtube.

Hopefully you can have two or three of these businesses running, they will bring you some income without too much work.
Some people blog, and vlog (youtube). But that is a less reliable source of income - ad revenue is dropping, and everyone is using ad blockers. Product promotion is better, though that can lead to the blog/vlog being less genuine. Many people use these platforms to promote their own products.
Some promote conferences (though it requires public speaking and travelling). Some promote their own books.
ebooks are a very good platform, you can produce fiction or factual books.
Smashwords is great, it goes across platforms (ibook, kindle, etc), you keep ~85% profit). And it doesn't prevent you from independently publishing a physical book.
Making any digital product is great because once you're done it sells it's self.
Electronic music can be made, and sold on iphone/beatport (the profits aren't as large as they used to be, but it sells once you have done the work).
Computer games (smaller games are awesome for the smartphone market). Check out Agar.io a very simple game that is a big hit.

Patreon can be useful for content producers, once you have some 'fans' then they can help support you, and the ones that pay a bit more can get early releases of your ebook/music etc.

If anyone else has some ideas please speak up.

Sounds like you're on the right track.

I will say this, because I always notice it’s very rarely said. Going into business for your self is expensive; lots of upfront cost before you even turn a profit. While sometime after the first or second year, you may very well be making more money. You will also be working much more hours. Then the enormous cost (FICA, Insurance, PTO, Retirement) your employer covered is now on you. So in the end you may very well make more, but your actual hourly pay maybe less after everyone one gets a cut.

When you get to the point of growth, you have to hire employees. Those enormous cost previously stated has to be added on top your new employee’s salary; while still trying to be profitable on their labor. You probably can’t match the benefits of a bigger company, so you offer more pay… It cost allot to hire someone and you take a lost if they don’t work out. So you have to invest into your employees so they stay; then you realize why your employer offered what they did.

I would just make sure the hassle is worth it; weigh in the lost opportunity cost from lost income and upfront cost to get the company going. Carefully plan out every step and possible scenarios. With us having ASD we may have more cost; having to hire out people for various communication tasks. For me that would be someone who deals with marketing and day to day sales (know your limitations). For some fields this could be profitable and probably needed to make a real living; some not so much.

There are also services people need or want:

gardening/landscaping

cleaning people's homes

starting a home organizing service

becoming a personal shopper for people who are housebound (although online shopping is challenging this service)

becoming a realtor (although showing homes can be a fairly "social" thing you need chatty skills for)

With these services, although you are in contact with people, it's not as many people or as overwhelming as, say, having a retail job. You are usually one-on-one with the client, one client at any given time, and you can "let go" of difficult ones you don't like as easily as they can choose not to hire you, and you will still have other clients to keep the income coming.

There are also things like becoming an e-bay seller, or using arts and crafts talents to make and sell a product people would find desirable, or putting together kits with all the things they need to make one themselves, such as when knitting designers sell their original knitting patterns or kits to make the item.

Any service or artifact that people either need or believe they want, can generate an income as long as you market yourself. Sometimes marketing need only be local, depending on the service or artifact.

Based on having personally become self employed in a simple service industry that was almost no start-up costs and has given me a steady independent living for 23 years.

OP, you must have read The 4 Hour Work Week one too many times.. not a bad book, IMO, but the author makes it sound a lot easier than it really is. I read it 4 years ago and am still working on that business that'll eventually bring in the passive income that'll support my lifestyle while I can travel the world or pursue other interests in my life.

Well you can have passive income.
Or traditional, if you start a business with high initial capital investment and market research, then yes, there is more risk.

I suggest you sell it once it becomes sucessful, then you have profited, now invest that money into shares and restart something else that is lower cost/stress.
Or turn it into a Franchise.
Either of these options you could get a partner, or become a silent partner.
Someone does most of the work, they take the lions share of profits, but you have enough to live on, while you work on something else.

If you invent something then there is cost to test, mass produce, market/advertise.
Sell the initial product outright, or with a percentage of profits.
Patent something, licence the patent.
(You guys are smart, I know it!)
Yes there are some costs, and time cost researching patents, drawing them up (technical details) etc.



I tried a service job, very difficult to sell things to businesses. You walk in as a customer, they are all friendly smiles. Walk in trying to sell a service, and they all but chase you from the store, even if you are the only customer in there.
Make sure it is a service they NEED, and that you can undercut the competition significantly (either on price or performance, ideally both); also try to increase the effectivness of your service - eg you do something quicker/more efficiently that the competition, but charge a similar price. You are then able to move double the lawns they can (it might only be a 10% improvement).

I did think about making up medical kits to sell on ebay at one point. There is a massive range and styles. Hiking (compact) firsts aid: stings, allergy antihistamines, etc.
Huge proper medical kits. Kits for at sea (waterproof). etc etc.
The cost is low. However the sale price is mostly also low, and the market is flooded.

If you are selling a service concentrate on the big clients that bring in the most profit, rather than volume. (still keep the less profitable clients, for a back up when you lose a large client).

As for Aspergers communication, much of this can be done via txt/email these days.

I've never read the 4 hour work week book.
But I do believe in working 3 days a week, well on hard stuff. I work 5-7 days a week, but my hobbies are difficult and they often move over into the "profit generating" category eventually.

(sorry if my original post was messy and a bit rant-ish looking).

Currently I'm making quite a bit of progress with my projects. I've dropped or scaled back many many ideas (and selling associated assets, or reusing them for other projects).
Be flexible, try to remain flexible at all times, so you can roll on into the future without missing a beat if the business doesn't work out.
Keep a part time job, perhaps scale back your full time job.
Keep selling those ugly paintings for a while, as you start off your "fantastic super fun business venture", just in case you need to fall back on those ugly paintings (the most boring job in the world)

my old body and old brain long ago told me, ENOUGH! no more rat race! so I live in poverty because I just can't handle the kinda work I could rate [hard labor and low-complexity]. when they tried to get me to multitask and do multiple people's [laid off] jobs, is what just about killed me. am still recovering from that 9 years later. I just don't seem to have the entrepreneurial genes, as I have tried on multiple occasions to start my own business, it just never worked. tried selling amway. tried selling cutco knives. tried selling audio equipment, itself a most disappointing failure as that was my natural line. tried to sell my audio restoration services, nobody bit. why oh WHY does money flee from me straight into the pockets of the more mercenary and talented?

A: is the market flooded (too much competition, if not be prepared to have competitors arrive on the scene promptly).
B: is the item high value = high profit margin (allows you to cut your price to drive off a lower priced competitor)
C: the product can be simple, native hard wood products made into something interesting/puzzle pieces - suitable for childrens toys (natural), of high value to asian markets, perhaps appeal to businessmen (talking point on desk).
D: is your product a want or need? Need is better, but often already well supplied. You can create want & need, collectable cards, cronut (need), lower the price but keep the quality high - a burger, so cheap so convenient that people cannot resist it, easier and healthier than cooking, you're actually saving them time, money, and giving them health, along with a fantastic taste (dopamine hit), that is a quadruple whammy. They will be essentially addicted to your product. Think how convenient cars are in comparison to a horse, they don't get tired, you know how they will act, they don't die. If it breaks you rent a new one, and they can go a significant distance with shelter and carry a lot of items, also multiple passengers, and safer than riding a horse.

To try and find a good product. Think of something you are VERY passionate about.
Or something that annoys the hell out of you, that you are dying to solve.
There was a guy that put a rubber square on the bottom of walking canes. Everyone (including myself) said "Ithought they'd done that already." No they hadn't, the guy that made it (and patented) became an instant millionare.
Even if your dream is a little more ambitious (smartphone). The higher price makes the effort worthwhile.
Something such as an onion peeler, imagine never having to ever peel or even slice an onion again or potatoes.
There are food processors, but they don't peel onions. (perhaps there is a product out there that I don't know about). Sometimes you can improve on anothers invention (yes you can patent it if it is different enough), or simplify it - food processors are complex, they require a hell of a lot of cleaning.

Sometimes you can create higher value, one of a kind jewelery, unique fashion (only one made in the world), check this guy out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuQsxFhBGzw
He makes these for buyers, the design is never repeated again.

I wish I was that clever. I never seem to think of these things.

Selling canes--I think there will always be a market for custom canes. Even if manufacturers figure out how to provide custom designs, there will always be people who need to have other people figure out what they need. It will be quite some time before machines can take what someone says they need and actually figure out the actual need.