I was off work for an entire semester last year (I teach high school). This year, I've gone back to part days (currently up to 5 hours) in a mostly one-to-one setting instead of whole-group.

Today I subbed for a regular class for an hour. Very overwhelming. I made it through pretty well, but got a headache afterwards.

I just can't see being able to handle a full day of that every day by the 12-month mark. Financially, I need to be able to do something to support my family as I currently provide all our health insurance and the primary source of dependable regular income.

I feel like I might possibly be able to handle part-time teaching if I were guaranteed cooperative students most days, but that's just not realistic.

What can anyone tell me about the process of applying for disability benefits? I'm worried now that the fact I've been working part days in a modified situation will count against me being considered "completely and permanently disabled" even though it really doesn't seem feasible for me to go back to my regular job.