I am looking into part-time work of some sort. Being a former teacher of 25 years, subbing seems to 'make sense'. It would pay the best in my area. I would be qualified and I can pick the days and times that I would want to work (which would be invaluable since TX plan is not established yet).

For starters I can tell the district I can only work half-days. I seriously think even that in itself will be challenging physically and cognitively. However, it is worth a try - I think - that is why I am asking here. I could start with like two half days per week and build up from there if physically and mentally able.

Sometimes med changes (which will occur as my TX plan continues to be worked) leave me sedated and cognitively out of it. A 'chemical lobotomy' if you will. However, I can always chose not to work on those days/weeks.

I know the SSA has some ideas about 'work attempts'. However, I am not clear on them. Can someone provide some guidance on the concept of 'work attempts' please? I promise to be a 'gentleman' and not allow the discussion to digress on my end.

Below is a description of what subbing may entail. Thank you.


Substitute Teacher/Substitute Teacher

Job Description

Classification: Certified
Division/Department: Substitute Teachers
Job Category: Substitute
FLSA: Exempt

Title: Substitute Teacher


Qualifications: *Must have a current Substitute Teacher license or a Teaching license, both are issued by the XXX State Dept. of Education
*Negative TB test result within the last 12 months
*Completion of in-processing


Reports To: Building Principals

Supervises: Students K-12


BASIC FUNCTION/PURPOSE
To provide instruction and supervision by carrying out the instructional plans in the absence of the regular classroom teacher.


PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The employee performing the duties of this position is frequently required to walk, sit, talk, hear, bend, stoop, and reach. The employee may be occasionally required to manually lift, move, or carry up to 50 pounds. The employee is required to interact with staff and meet the demands of several different people. The employee is responsible for the work output of others. The employee occasionally works extended hours. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

CRITICAL SKILLS:
1. Ability to maintain regular and good work attendance and come to work on time.
2. Ability to work constructively and cooperatively with others.
3. Ability to respond to information requests in a courteous, timely and helpful manner.
4. Ability to manage job responsibilities while meeting established deadlines.
5. Ability to access, input, and retrieve information from a computer.
6. Ability to maintain confidentiality of student and staff information.


ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
1. Ability to supervise students and maintain control of the classroom while following the discipline policies of the district and school.
2. Teach to the best of your ability under the supervision of the building principal using the lesson plans prepared by the teacher.
3. Perform any additional duties assigned to the teacher whose position you are filling unless other arrangements have been made by the principal. (Examples: playground supervision, hall duty, and other responsibilities as may be assigned)
4. Inform building principal of any student injuries or discipline concerns.
5. Practice professional ethics in all relationships with students, parents, teachers, and the community.

PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Maintain a tidy and orderly classroom environment.
2. Leave a file with any messages related to students.
3. Written work completed by students should be corrected if directed to do so and left in an organized manner.
4. Comply with policies that include time of arrival, remaining after school, preparing required records and reporting accidents to the office.
5. Check out with the principal’s office before leaving for the day.
6. Strive to communicate the positive aspects of our school program to the public in word and deed.
7. Uphold and enforce Board policies, administrative procedures, school rules, and federal and state regulations including but not limited to
Consolidated Plan for Federal Programs
Acceptable use of technology
Sexual and racial harassment
Child abuse reporting
8. Perform other duties assigned by the principal or other building or district administrators.
9. Keep Human Resources informed of any changes in contact information and/or availability to substitute.

Term of Employment: Daily on as needed basis

Salary Range: $90 - $105/daily

Updated: June 2015

You really need to understand the concept of SGA (Significant Gainful Activity which is $1090 per month.)

"To be eligible for disability benefits, a person must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA)."

"Trial work period
After a person becomes eligible for disability benefits, the person may attempt to return to the work force. As an incentive, we provide a trial work period in which a beneficiary may have earnings and still collect benefits."

Underlined above is my emphasis.

https://www.socialsecurity.gov/oact/cola/sga.html

So long as your earnings remain under the SGA amount, you can pursue SSDI benefits.

The term I believe you were looking for is Unsuccessful Work Attempt (UWA). Links: https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0411010145
https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0424005001

You should probably discuss the idea of attempting to work as a sub with your psychiatrist. Are you sure your district would even use you as a sub at this point? Does your district have a policy regarding employees with severe mental impairments like Bipolar Disorder? I just spoke with someone that related that they were refused to be allowed to volunteer at their high school due to their BP. It would seem more appropriate to try and teach adults pt in evening classes at this point, which should also be less stressful. Or, if you really wish to explore something in the educational field, you could maybe try something like selling textbooks to school districts.

There are lots of unskilled jobs you might consider as well. You should probably contact your local Vocational Rehabilitation services and see if they might be able to help you.

LL, thank you for your kind and thoughtful remarks. They are very much appreciated. I have put my comments inside yours.

^^^OK. I will take a look into that. Thank you.

The local library has an ad for a clerk. 8am to 3pm Mondays-Fridays. Every third Saturday - work 8am - 5pm. I have been pondering looking into it. Of course I love books but I really do not know how my feet/ankles and my mind could handle a Mon-Fri thing and then the every third Saturday. That would interfere with my seeing my daughters every other Saturday UNLESS I could get the X to agree to a, 'I get them every 2nd and 4th Saturday . . .'

However, she is VERY RIGID and CONTROLLING and would probably never agree to such a thing . . . But again, I don't know until I try. I will go up today and see if the job is still available and get a more detailed description of it . . . I imagine it would not pay half as much as subbing and subbing would give me the needed flexibility for medical appointments, BAD days, etc.

LL - thank you for STILL reaching out and assisting me despite less than appropriate tone this week. If I start to act like a jerk again - please feel free to let me know. It doesn't have to be a PM unless you want it to be. Thanks again.

The person denied the volunteer position's BP was controlled had been so for many years.

When minors are involved, their safety comes first.

I can't imagine your attorney wants to bring your mental impairment issues to the attention of the court, especially if your ex has any desire to further restrict your access, but claiming the court would not factor your BP in terms of child support, that seems odd.

[COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]The EX is a control-freak. Her own favorite doctor told her this. I was in the room and heard it. I hope my above explanation explains why my attorney ONLY wants to bringing up PHYSICAL problems that keep me from working. My attorney has personally known that Judge who we would appear before. My attorney told me, "He has a 21 second attention span. We got to be concise and put our best foot forward. Talking about 'mental health issues' is just going to cut into the limited time we have. Am I making some sense?
[/COLOR]

I don't understand what I did wrong with the color formatting? I highlighted and selected 'blue'. But I get color equals rgb . . . Thanks.

Here is a link with ideas for potential accommodation requests: askjan.org/media/educators.html

WORD of CAUTION:

If you are working, earning even a small amount of money, when one appears in front of an ALJ at a hearing, expect to be challenged on it. They will inquire as to if you are holding your wages down intentionally to be able to stay under the allowed limit.

Some people that are unable to work in the outside work force attempt to earn "something" to help provide any source of income and work from home. That allows them to set their own hours, pace, rest periods, etc. and the flexibility to function when they are capable. It might involve stuffing envelopes, watching the neighbors kids for an hour, making phone calls, etc. Just about anything to earn a dime when they can.

ANY amount of income "earned", no matte how small, will be questioned by an ALJ.

If you make $100 on average a month, an ALJ will inquire as to why it is not more. Would you be capable of earning more?

Just because one is earning less than the SGA amount, does not mean it will not be challenged.

Understood. I was pondering that very thing. Thank you very much.

It is true that most attorneys will advise their clients not to work while applying for SSDI benefits. It is certainly not uncommon for claimants to be approved while working pt if their earnings are modest. I won't get into dollar amounts because that can be used to coach someone on how to work the system. If a person keeps their wages just under the SGA amount every month, then yes, 1) it will make their approval difficult 2) they probably should be denied anyway.

Let me mention, that it can actually help a claimant's credibility to attempt to return to work by trying a different job or jobs. --The goal should be to actually be able to return to work, and not just an attempt to just gain evidence to support one's SSDI claim though.

Whether Dean could find a different career path that is workable with or without accommodations, or even after having additional treatment for his impairments, it's impossible to say. Since SS has already determined Dean is not capable of working in his former job at the SGA level, and for other reasons, my personal opinion is it would be better for him to try and find a new career path.

Thanks Lit Love,

You said EXACTLY what I was trying to say and did so poorly.

Thanks again for coming to my rescue.

WOW, you said everything I wanted to express and did it superbly.

TOTALLY agree. Wish I had your communication skills but mine went out the window with my health.