My wife started her own business around 9 years ago in her early fifties after being out of the workforce almost 20 years to raise our five children. I don't know what your family situation is but starting a business requires that you have "someone" who can support you... spouse or parents during the process.
My wife's most critical skills for her new business were being responsible, organized, and high energy. Her business is property services, and her customers are small property management companies, realtors, real estate investors, and homeowners.
Busy and generally affluent people with full time jobs want one person to call who can take care of the problem they are having with their property. Leaking sink, old flooring, out of control yard, painting, replace a light fixture, all the way up to a $100,000 dollar remodel (she does not do "new construction" or work that requires a "permit").
Most people do not have someone on "speed dial" (I know an old term, but I think it conveys the message), who they can trust to get something done and not take advantage of them. My wife charges 10% over her cost, but people pay what something should cost, not what they would get charged by someone who knows they have no idea what something should cost.
She makes sure the contractors she refers to the work to do the jobs right and if not, they come back, or she pays to have someone else fix the problem. She also makes sure the contractor gets paid when the work is done, not when the owner gets around to it. Her business has grown by 20-30% per year, and she now earns a fairly substantial amount, one most people would love to earn, and more than many corporate executives make. She does most of her work from home. She meets with her clients at their homes at the beginning if it is big and after the job is over to inspect it, if it is big. Since much of her work comes from the same clients over time, she knows their homes and so often it is simply a matter of sending someone to repair a minor issue.
My point is that there are plenty of "jobs" where you don't have to work for somebody else and even can work from home. You are always "employable", the harder challenge is finding a job where you fit, and it fits you.
When my wife first thought about going back to work (mostly because she was getting bored as the children grew up and did not need her as much), she thought about going back to work in a "regular" job. Nothing wrong with that, but I encouraged her to do something she loves and given she spent a lot of free time touring "open houses" to get ideas for our house, I suggested she do for other people what she did for our home. She followed that advice, and the rest is history.
You mentioned and autistic person. One of our clients has hired my wife to simply keep repairing the damage that her adult son inflicts on their home. Everyone has skills, the challenge for most people is finding a creative rewarding way to apply them.
