J.C.
I feel for your situtaion. I don't know what full time work (other than a teacher or banker) that will get you home before 5, so you would probably have to work part time. And since you said you want to move out of your parents home, part time probably won't cut it.
The other option is working the graveyard shift. My best friend works 11-7am at the W downtown. I'm sure there are other jobs out there that offer graveyard shifts: post offices have night shifts, hotel,24 hr pharmacies,fed ex,airport, hospitals...there are a bunch! She has 2 sons and is a single. Her mom watches her sons while she's at work. Sice they go to bed at 9, her mom is watching sleeping children. She gets home at 7 30ish,takes them to school and then sleeps from 9 to 3. She spends the rest of the day with her children until she goes to work at 11 pm. It's a great schedule for her and may work for you as well. The pay is usually higher for graveyard hours. You may want to look into it.
Good luck.
ps- I don't know what daycares specialize in autism but perhps your son can do the full day instead of half day of school so you can get him at 3. Or you can do half day (part time)daycare which would cover him after school and until 3 , after you've had some sleep.
Here is an article about the "graveyard shift" you may find interesting.
http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/06/jobs-pay-premium-lead-ca...
And her are some local night shift jobs I found:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/Jobseeker/Jobs/JobResults.as...