This article contains affiliate links and referral links — I may earn a small commission or bonus at no additional cost to you!
We live in a world of endless opportunity. You can be a scuba diver, an actor, or a politician. Babysit puppies. Bake sourdough in Italy and call yourself a pizzaiolo. Compared to the rest of history, when our ancestors toiled away in fields, we have it pretty good.
That doesn’t mean every job is good for us.
I’m 22. Because I wasn’t born into a rich family, I had to suffer through some pretty painful jobs. I struggled to keep employment; a year was the longest I could manage. Although 3–6 months was typical. The moment I clocked out of work, the tears fell and they wouldn’t stop. And every morning, the tears streamed until work started again. Rinse and repeat.
Now I’ve come to realize that I’m not broken. I’m autistic.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being autistic. It’s just that the world hasn’t accommodated us. Fortunately, there is still hope — in the form of side hustles and work from home jobs. Today, I’d like to share three side hustles I’ve tried (and actually worked!).
Before I start — hi, I’m Adrian! If you’re not following me yet, then you definitely should. Your support gives me lovely dopamines! :)
Etsy
Etsy is a godsend for people with autism.
Do you have a niche hyperfixation? Like knitting felt cats, or building statues out of soda cans? Look no further than Etsy. If you can make it with your hands, you can sell it. Etsy makes this easy, efficient and fun. Some people make $100 a month there, and some make $10,000.
I’ll be honest: Etsy is by no means perfect (nothing is), but it’s the biggest and the best we’ve got.
Besides hyperfixations, why do I recommend Etsy?
✅ Easy to understand UI
✅ You can run an Etsy store from the comfort of your own home (no sensory overload!)
✅ No face-to-face interaction
✅ Stim freely without judgement
✅ Set your own schedule
✅ Your earning potential is infinite
✅ As long as it’s handmade, you can sell anything you want!
I’ve been running three Etsy stores for the past two years. I’m not rich, but I’ve gained peace of mind. That’s priceless to me. The extra $500 or $1000 a month kept me afloat when I was unemployed (which happens frequently).
Etsy is not without downsides. Their fees are annoying, the customer is always right, and oftentimes you’ll rip your hair out because 80% of your profit went towards shipping… (Couldn’t be me.)
Overall I recommend Etsy — she’s a sturdy lass.
Want to start an Etsy store? Signup with this link and we’ll both get 40 FREE LISTINGS!
(If you’re not familiar: Etsy charges $0.20 per listing you post. Using my link, you won’t have to pay for the first 40!)
2. HYSA Banking
I’m not sponsored by Wealthfront, I just really like them.
Investment.
When you hear that word, what do you picture? If you’re anything like me, you picture Dogecoin, graphs and The Wolf of Wall Street. Looming over these pictures is a sense of confusion. It doesn’t matter if you’re autistic or NT, for most of us investments are ridiculously complicated.
With that in mind, allow me to explain HYSA Banking. And please stick with me through the end: it will all make sense.
HYSA stands for “High-yield Savings Account”.
An HYSA is an account you deposit money into. There are plenty of blanks that allow HYSA’s, although Wealthfront happens to be my favorite. When you deposit your money with them, it doesn’t go into the stock market. It just… sits there. Like regular savings.
But this is a HYSA, not a normal savings account.
Ever borrow money with a credit card? If you don’t pay off the card in time, you’ll accrue interest. This could be $1 or $50, depending on the interest rate. As time goes on, you will owe more interest.
With an HYSA, instead of you paying the interest, you actually earn interest! Yes, you can earn money on savings that sit around. No, I am not kidding you. Let me explain how this works and how much you can earn.
First, let me explain one important term: APY’s. APY stands for Annual Percentage Rate. Each HYSA bank has a different APY.
At the time of writing, Wealthfront has a 3.75% APY. What does this mean? Well let’s say you deposit $10,000 into a Wealthfront HYSA. In one month, you’ll earn $31.25. No extra work needed, just have the cash and deposit. Is your mind blown yet?!
And this money compounds over time. After a year, your $10,000 becomes $10,373. And after 10 years, your $10,373 becomes $14,972. But remember: the more money you deposit, the more interest you earn.
What if you deposit $300 a month for 10 years? Good question — since you accrue interest on every dollar in your HYSA, your $14k will become $58k. Not bad! And should you decide, “I want my money back,” you can do that without penalties.
This won’t make you rich; believe me, I know. However, this is a long-term investment with a great payoff. Your future self will thank you for it.
Here’s why I recommend an HYSA account for neurodivergent folks (or anyone in general):
✅ It’s super easy to start
✅ No risk of losing your money
✅ Completely passive (make money while you sleep)
✅ No fees or phone calls
✅ You can take back your money at any time
✅ Interest rates change all the time; you can earn more or less
Everyone should have an HYSA (or any investment plan). It’s one of the smartest and easiest ways to accrue cash over time.
Want to open an account with Wealthfront? Earn a 0.50% APY boost! When you use this link, we’ll both get a 0.50% APY increase for three months. It’s completely free and helps me grow my savings too.
3. Affiliate Marketing
So far we’ve discussed Etsy, which is great if you want to sell your creations. What if you don’t create anything, but you’d still like to earn?
You’re in luck, my friend. Allow me to introduce affiliate marketing.
What’s affiliate marketing, and how does it work? Those are both great questions! You smart cookie, you. *MWAH*
You think he lifts bread?
After getting your link, you can promote it anywhere you want. I like to share my links on Pinterest, Reddit, and Tumblr; but you can promote links pretty much anywhere. If and when someone buys this duck through your link, you’ll earn a percentage off that total price.
For example: this duck figurine is $13.99 and the commission rate is 3%. if you purchase this duck figurine using my link I will earn $0.42! Not much. Could be better.
And you’re not restricted to just duck figurines on Amazon.
You can become an affiliate for anything — VPNs, website builders, Fiverr, etc. The world is your oyster, man. You like XYZ? There’s an affiliate program for that.
Becoming an affiliate is easy. Becoming a good affiliate? That’s the hard part. You see, no one’s gonna use your link if it feels shoehorned in. And a large percentage of people just aren’t in the mood to buy anything. When’s the last time you bought something just because of an ad? I can’t recall.
Spamming your link in subreddits isn’t being a good affiliate. I guarantee you’ll make $0 doing that.
In order to make sales, you need to make sure of three things:
1. Get as much eyes on your links as possible. You could be the best salesman in the world, but if you’re only pitching to a five people, your chances of success are pretty much zero. Promote to hundreds? Your chances improve.
2. Promote products that make sense to your viewers. For example, I’m a blog based on neurodivergence and writing. You’ll never catch me promoting bouncy castles, because, well — that doesn’t make any sense. The same applies to you. Find a niche, then sell within that niche.
3. Trust! If your viewers trust you, they’ll buy things through you. That’s why you should make good content first (Youtube, blogging, etc.) and then promote links once you’ve gathered an audience.
Here’s why I recommend affiliate marketing:
✅ You can promote the links in many ways (youtube, blogs, pinterest pins, etc)
✅ It can be faceless if you want
✅ Work from home
✅ Easy to start
✅ It can easily compliment creative content
There are a couple of caveats though. Each affiliate program has different requirements that you must read carefully.
For example, Amazon won’t affiliate links on certain websites. Amazon can close your account if you don’t make a sale in 6 months. A few programs have an interview process, which can be intimidating for some of you at home. Overall, I do recommend it. It doesn’t hurt to try.
Like I’ve said before, Amazon’s commission rate is very low (3–5%). Other programs might pay more. Just make sure to read the fine print.
If traditional jobs have you broken down, I get it. The world doesn’t accommodate us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t build something for ourselves. These three side hustles helped me find freedom and dignity again. If I can do it, so can you!
Hi, I'm Adrian from Brainstreams! I'm just a trans autistic dude sharing my thoughts.
My main focus for this blog is to help neurodivergent folks write better stories. On occasion, I might share side hustles insights. If you vibe with either of those things, gimme a follow.
