Experience with supported workplaces?

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I had a sort of quasi-interview there today - whereby I showed up to enquire after emailing with the manager a few times.
It seems there are a few issues when it comes to supported workplaces for people with disabilities - (1) you seem to have to be on a disability pension to qualify. The qualifying element is not that you have a disability, but that you are in full receipt of a Government pension that is the deciding factor, which I thought was odd.
What about disabled people who either don't qualify for full pension, or else, refuse to be put in that box and told they're useless, and just have to take a handout? There seems an obviously gaping crack to fall through.
(2) It is not paid with money. You "work" there, but you don't get a wage. They say you work there to get disability pension - which you're getting anyway. From what I could understand (which was fuzzy, admittedly) it's there as a sort of sop to personal self-esteem. Like you're pretending to work just like everyone else, but it's not a real job, to earn you a wage for labour. You get the pension like you would anyway, it's just there to make you feel better about yourself for "working."
I have a suspicion it may also act as a sort of respite service for carers - you send your disabled child/relative/whatever off to this place, they believe they are working a job and doing something worthwhile, and you get rid of them for a few hours a day.
Yeah. It was a bit of a grim meeting. I was interested because of how incredibly impossible I find holding down a job - even the one I currently work, where they are understanding about the autism, there are elements of it which just pressure me in ways I'd rather not be pressured if at all possible. But I am adamant that I can work, I am actually capable of doing something genuinely useful, if these other elements are not present (things like having social contact with other people as part of the job, working in a "fast paced environment," being a "team player," etc).
I thought working in a supported workplace, which is specifically there to cater to people with disabilities, might take that out of things. If I couldn't communicate, that would not be a sacking offense in a disability specific job.
Anyone successfully worked in a supported workplace? Was it a real job? How did it go? Was it different / easier than a normal workplace?
They said they'd get back to me, but I'm not particularly hopeful. I need money just like anyone else, after all.

I work in a partially supported workplace. That means that my salary is paid in the same way as the other colleague's are, but there is a payment by an government institute. The percentage of the salary that that instutute pays, depends on the level of disability.

The problem that I have is that there is underemployment. The school where I work, don't want to pay the full salary, because it thinks that I am seriously handicapped. When I ask what that handicap is, they say, that is learning disorder. "Autism is a learning disorder." I have said to my boss that I don't believe a thing of it, although I know what the cause is of her thinking so. The point is that the tasks I must do is way too easy, but she thinks that I cannot do better. When I ask to improve my skills, she refuses. I do have appraisal talks but the boss says that everything is okay. She is playing nice weather, fooling me.

She did teach me a few new things, but then I wonder: How on earth is that hard to understand. I am learning Japanese which is way tougher than administrative skills.

I have blabbed about it with a few colleagues and with my father, and they think that barring me from improvement, is ridiculous. I want the truth about me, not a boss that gossips about me with institutes behind my back.

I myself am trying to find something like that, or at least some kind of employment service that offers some sort of job placement, with like a paid trial period or something. It just seems like I cannot find and keep a job on my own...I need help. I seriously want to work, I do not feel my aspergers and co-morbids would prevent it anymore I think I did need to be on SSI just taking care of my mental health and getting to a better place where I could function but now I am just getting bored.

I have responded to a few job ads on craigslist, have tried looking on some other job search websites(only to get my email spammed with crap from partner sites or whatever) and well just not seeing much that's not way above my head, or requires something I don't have like my own vehicle, a certain amount of past experience, ability to lift 50 pounds on a regular basis, working well in a 'fast paced environment'. Also have not gotten responses from any of the jobs I have applied for. I suspect 1 job in the past 5 years that only lasted 3 minutes and no professional references doesn't help.

So yeah just sort of getting frustrated, running out of ideas of places to turn. I may try a place I went to for sort of an assessment on my difficulties as well as skills while I was working with voc-rehab. This place works with customers of voc-rehab but its a different program/service so I don't think you have to be involved with voc-rehab to get their services. Also seems like they offer more in the way of maybe actually hooking you up with a job to start building experience, the website mentions paid trial periods on jobs so employer can give you a chance without risk and you still get paid. So yeah that might be my best bet...

Lift 50 lbs is the hardest one for me, but one place I was very interested in explained it was to highlight the fact it was a physical job, not necessary that you would be lifting that. Interestingly they still want to interview me, probably because I held a very similar job in the past with a very specific skill (not too many people have handled birds of prey). I have the full day interview on Saturday with them, I'll tell you how that goes, I'll either wow them with all my knowledge or they will think "should we hire the chunky woman?" Which is what I'm even more afraid of.