Work-at-Home Career Ideas for Autism Parents

When one or more of your children are diagnosed with autism it can be heartwrenching to leave them and head off to work, especially if they are used to you being around all of the time and they don’t want that to change, but sometimes needs must. That’s why work-from-home careers have been such a boon to many autism families. Although they aren’t right for everyone, if you can make them work for you, they are a fantastic way of earning a living while being around a lot more for your children.

If you’re an autism parent and the idea of working from home appeals to you, here are some options which might be a good fit:

Childminder

Most autism parents are pretty good at caring for children, dealing with meltdowns and keeping them occupied throughout the day, so if your child doesn’t mind being around other children, being a childminder operating out of your home could be great for all of you. If you can market yourself as being autism-friendly, that will be a unique selling point that could prove to be quite lucrative for you too.

Marketing Expert

Now that so much of the buying and selling we all do is carried out online, it has never been easier to set up an online marketing agency, and if you have a way with words, a creative mind and a knack for selling things, there is no reason why you could not do the same. If you like the idea but you’re not sure if you could be successful, check out this integrated marketing communications masters degree online to get an idea of the skills a marketing expert needs. Maybe you could even take the course? The best thing about this is you can set up with little more than a website and some guerilla marketing to get you going, which is good if you don’t have a whole lot of cash to invest.

Etsy

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If you’re a great knitter, crocheter, painter or you really excel at any of the million other handicrafts out there, why not set up your own Etsy store and start selling your creations. Although it is possible to make a very good full-time living doing this, it is probably more suited to those of you who are looking to make a side-income while caring from the kids because it will take a lot of hard work to produce enough stuff to make a sizeable income, but it can be very rewarding work, especially if you craft to unwind.

Tutoring

There are so many children out there who need a little extra help with their school work and if you have excellent qualifications and a knack for simplifying things for kids, you could be the one to help them. You can tutor over the internet, in your own home or in the childrens’ homes, and the work typically takes place after school in the early evenings or at weekends. when childcare should be less of an issue.

(this is a collaborative post)

Do you work from home while taking care of your kids? What do you do?

Joel Manzer

Husband to an Amazing Wife, and Father of a Child with Autism. Founding Lead Editor of this site called Autisable. Click here to join Autisable!