I just want to create

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Employment has been one f the biggest struggles of my life. Keeping a job feels like climbing Mount Everest. My record for keeping a job thus far is a year and a half. I am currently working at a thrift store, in the back, sorting books. I loved college. And by that I mean that I loved the challenge of absorbing as much knowledge as my brain could handle. But the social, emotional and sensory aspects of college left me with 2 unfinished degrees. And those are the same challenges that I face with employment. Work wipes me out and leaves meltdowns and panic attacks in its wake. All I want to do is stay home with my paint brushes and my computer. I'm a painter and a writer because I need to create. That's how I interact with the world. It's my voice. It's my way of contributing to the world.

So I'm asking how my fellow aspergians have overcome this obstacle. My partner and I both have asperger's and he has struggled with this as well. But he has learned to find contentment at a job where he works in solitude doing repetitive and challenging things. We have 4 children, all somewhere on the spectrum, so we both need to work. Having meltdowns almost every morning before work leaves me feeling childish, selfish and ashamed. Doing yoga and meditating for at least an hour is the only way I can make it to work.

I'm an artist. Writing and painting give me a foundation in which to build my life upon. With a paintbrush or pencil in my hand I feel safe. I feel connected. Any advice would be very welcomed and appreciated.

I don't blame you. All I want to do is create myself.

How many hours do you work a day?

Having four kids is more work than any job!

I would really seek to keep the job--unless your financial circumstances improve dramatically through a big raise for your husband.

Maybe you could present your work within the Art Subforum here on WrongPlanet.

Try and sell your art to someone you know. Not any big sell, just a painting to a friend or relative. You will feel so much better when you are done selling it. Or, try something crazy like putting your art on a random street corner and see what happens.

Other than that, I don't know. Stay in your current job for as long as you can. Try to smile and enjoy your everyday life. It will pay the bills and you can always paint and write in your spare time.

What kind of art do you make? Can you describe it?

I'm so there too. But I don't have kids. We did a work outing where we took a one day course in blacksmithing. I swear I would rather do that than my real job. I suggest finding such an artistic niche, where you can make pieces that sell for big bucks. It's harder to sell paintings.

That's the ultimate dilemma, isn't it? Not just for aspies, but for everyone. Everybody wants to make their mark on the world, to be heard, to put your signature at the bottom right corner of the universe. For my part, I write and sequence music. Some people like my music, but most people don't really care. It's not something I could make a career out of. So I earn my daily keep in the snake den of finance. When I started, I just did what my director asked, no frills, no creations. I worked hard at it and eventually earned my wings, then I was allowed to be creative. Entity and transaction structuring isn't exactly music, but it's starting to feel a little bit like art. Maybe you'll eventually find your second home too.

What you may want to do is find an "easy" job that lets you pay the bills and have enough energy to have an art hobby. Could you work in an art museum? Or maybe you really do need to separate your hobby from your job and find something that might even be boring, but pays the bills and doesn't stress you out.

I'm still working towards making any substantial income with my art, but I do sell it. Based on my limited experience, this is my recommendation:

Choose a niche/subject. As an example, mine is monsters and cats with a Lovecraftian influence. Cats and dogs seem to attract more prospective customers than some other subjects.

Make a Facebook page and post new work as regularly as possible. Do the same with Twitter and Tumbler and any other site you think would work, and link them all to each other. "Friend" as many people as possible with an interest in your subject. Comment on and "like" their posts regularly.

Then either list your work on Ebay or set up a Patreon, (or both), and put links to it on your art pages.

It's a struggle because it requires socializing online, but it can work, to whatever degree.

My problem is that I'm such a slow painter and I spent too much time doing things that aren't productive.

it might be worth it to look into trades that require artistic mindsets, although it may be a hard leap from 2D painting to something more utilitarian. for instance, furniture making and design can be very lucrative if you have a knack for it.
a lighter option could also be trying to sell things on etsy. my younger sister makes a decent amount of side money selling crocheted tops and necklaces, although it's definitely not enough money just on its own.

painting and computer.. graphic designers make $50-$100 per hour.

I'm in the same situation. I draw and paint and am at heart an artist. I think my work sucks, frankly but my family and friends all go nuts saying my work is amazing etc. Etc. When I actually put it online in a place like DeviantArt or some such no one even bothers to look, so maybe I'm just not good enough to stand out.

I don't know. I just work my miserable two jobs and try to be happy with the little bits of drawing time i get between.

When I first got out of college, I was a computer programmer, in Cobol on a mainframe. that is mostly obsolete now. I hated being stuck in a cubicle all day, and office politics and the corporate culture. So I went back to school and got a teaching degree. I had my first child a year later, and stayed home with him. I glad I did, because he had serious medical issues at birth, and he most likely would not have physically survived day care. Now I have 2 sons. My husband and I decided I would stay home full time to raise our 2 kids. The second one was born 7.5 years later.

I got into painting while I was at home with my boys. I became very good. I used to do art shows when I was younger and just had the 1 child. The economy was much better, and I was doing jewelry, so I could make between $800 and $3,000 in a 2 - 3 day art fair. Then, I switched over to painting (wall art) and the economy tanked. I'm also in my mid 50's now. It's much harder to sell paintings than jewelry. I just don't have it in my to do the weekend art festivals anymore. However, if you have the stamina to do them, you might make a little money, IF you make and sell prints, and other functional type objects with your art on them. From what I've seen, one must spend all one's waking hours marketing and making art in order to make it, and in this hard economy I don't know if that is even feasible anymore. The art world is very political, and one must network, socialize, schmooze, and make the right connections. It's all waaaaay over my head. Then there is online selling, or getting an art rep. The art rep thing is much hard than it would seem. There are many dishonest corrupt ones, and many of them make you pay them up front, like big fees, I hear. What is to prevent them from violating the copyright on your art, and selling scads of prints without your knowledge? For every decent art rep, art gallery, etc, there are thousands of artists wanting desperately to be represented.

At any rate, I have a part time job working in the kitchen at my son's school, and then I paint. I have an etsy store where I sell my art, about 2-4 paintings per year. I sometimes sell to friends and family, and I also donate them to charity auctions. I love making art, so I'm alright with this.