I have also had to give up my job as a teacher. My last day of work was 31 May - my principal worked hard to help me finish the school year. I also sat on the evaluation team responsible for hiring my replacement... a somewhat odd feeling! The realiy and uncertainty of being unemployed is just beginning to hit me. One of my retirement benefit plans has come through, but Social Security and the other half of my retirement plans are butting heads. The teacher retirement system will not pay benefits until the Social Security Admin. certifies my disability, and the SS people rejected my first application (made in March - when it became apparent that this would be my last school year) on the grounds that I was still working... I have reapplied to SS - but since my 2011/2012 school year contract pays me through 15 Aug. on the prorated salary system - SS says I am still working full time until then! I am really concerned about paying bills this Fall until all that gets sorted out - I am only 48 years old, so I need to try to find something I can still do at least part time. I am looking into Vocational Rehab. through my state and thinking about medical transcription as I am still able to type. I may also be able to substitute at my school part time - as long as I don't have to carry around glassware (I was a science teacher, and setting up the laboratory was getting kinda hairy - nothing like a fall when carrying a box of test tubes or beakers!) and can use my wheelchair to minimize fatigue. I am doing my best to use this time to take the best care of myself as possible - eating carefully, doing physical therapy, and anything else I can do to improve my overall health. I am trying to be positive too!
I'm just curious, have you checked into this yet? I have been told to print it out and bring it with you (the Compassion Allowance) for SSDI becaue not all workers know about this. They should but all don't. I not sure I know where you live if that makes a diffrence or not but it might be worth a try and see anyway! Check out # 16. Good luck!
Social Security Disability Representation Medicare Plan Selection Service
Faced with the reality of an unprecedented backlog of 3.2 million claims in 2011, and longer wait times for applicants, the Social Security Administration (SSA) utilizes its Compassionate Allowances program in an effort to provide benefits quickly to applicants whose medical conditions are so serious that their conditions obviously meet disability standards.
Here is the SSA's complete list of compassionate allowances - 165 conditions total:
Acute Leukemia
Adrenal Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome
Alexander Disease (ALX) - neonatal and infantile
Alobar Holoprosencephaly
Alpers Disease
Alpha Mannosidosis
Alstrom Syndrome
ALS/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex
Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Angelman Syndrome
Aortic Atresia
Astrocytoma - grade III and IV
Ataxia Spinocerebellar
Ataxia Telangiectasia
Batten Disease
Bilateral Retinoblastoma
Bladder Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
Bone Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
Breast Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
Canavan Disease (CD)
Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Site
Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal (COFS) Syndrome
Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis
Child Neuroblastoma
Child Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Chondrosarcoma with multimodal therapy
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) - blast phase
Cornelia de Lange Syndrome-Classic Form
Corticobasal Degeneration
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) – adult
Cri du Chat Syndrome
Degos Disease
Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
Edwards Syndrome
Eisenmenger Syndrome
Endomyocardial Fibrosis
Ependymoblastoma (child brain tumor)
Esophageal Cancer
Ewings Sarcoma
Farber's Disease (FD) – infantile
Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
Friedreichs Ataxia (FRDA)
Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma with metastases
Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Picks Disease -Type A – adult
Fucosidosis - Type 1
Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Galactosialidosis - Early Infantile Type
Gallbladder Cancer
Gaucher Disease (GD) - Type 2
Glioblastoma Multiforme (brain tumor)
Glioma Grade III and IV
Glutaric Acidemia Type II
Hallervorden-Spatz Disease
Head and Neck Cancers - with distant metastasis or inoperable or uresectable
Heart Transplant Graft Failure
Heart Transplant Wait List - 1A/1B
Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), familial type
Hepatoblastoma
Histiocytosis
Hurler Syndrome, Type IH
Hunter Syndrome, Type II
Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome
Hydranencephaly
Hypocomplementemic Urticarial Vasculitis
Hypophosphatasia Perinatal lethal Form
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
I Cell disease
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Infantile Free Sialic Acid Storage Disease
Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD)
Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)
Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa, Lethal Type
Juvenile Onset Huntington Disease
Kidney Cancer - inoperable or unresectable
Krabbe Disease (KD) – infantile
Kufs Disease Type A and B
Large Intestine Cancer - with distant metastasis or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Recipient
Leigh’s Disease
Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS)
Lewy Body Dementia
Lissencephaly
Liver Cancer
Lowe Syndrome
Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis Grade III
Malignant Brain Stem Gliomas - Childhood
Malignant Melanoma with metastases
Malignant Multiple Sclerosis
Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
Maple Syrup Urine Disease
Mastocytosis Type IV
Medulloblastoma with metastasis
Merkel Cell Carcinoma with metastases
Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) - late infantile
Mitral Valve Atresia
Mixed Dementia
Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
Multicentric Castleman Disease
Multiple System Atrophy
Myocolonic Epilepsy and Ragged Red Fibers Syndrome
Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis
Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses, infantile type
Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD) - Type A
Niemann-Pick Type C
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - with metastases to or beyond the hilar nodes or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Obliterative Bronchiolitis
Ohtahara Syndrome
Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency
Orthochromatic Leukodystrophy with Pigmented Glia
Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) - Type II
Ovarian Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
Pancreatic Cancer
Paraneoplastic Pemphigus
Patau Syndrome
Pearson Syndrome
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease-Classic Form
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease-Connatal Form
Peripheral Nerve Cancer - metastatic or recurrent
Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Perry Syndrome
Pleural Mesothelioma
Primary Cardiac Amyloidosis
Primary Effusion Lymphoma
Primary Progressive Aphasia
Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
Pompe Disease – infantile
Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
Pulmonary Atresia
Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma
Rett (RTT) Syndrome
Rhabdomyosarcoma
Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata
Salivary Tumors
Sanfilippo Syndrome
Sandhoff Disease
Schindler Disease Type 1
Single Ventricle
Small Cell Cancer (of the large intestine, ovary, prostate, or uterus)
Small Cell Lung Cancer
Small Intestine Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - Types 0 And 1
Spinal Nerve Root Cancer- metastatic or recurrent
Stiff Person Syndrome
Stomach Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Subacute Sclerosis Panencephalitis
Tabes Dorsalis
Tay Sachs Disease
Thanatophoric Dysplasia, Type 1
Thyroid Cancer
Tricuspid Atresia
Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Ureter Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Walker Warburg Syndrome
Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome
Wolman Disease
Xeroderma Pigmentosum
Zellweger Syndrome
Even if your condition is on this list, SSDI representation is essential due to the complex nature of the SSDI process.
Request a no-cost, no obligation disability evaluation to determine your eligibility for Social Security disability.
Source: Social Security Administration, 2012
Mary said:
I have also had to give up my job as a teacher. My last day of work was 31 May - my principal worked hard to help me finish the school year. I also sat on the evaluation team responsible for hiring my replacement... a somewhat odd feeling! The realiy and uncertainty of being unemployed is just beginning to hit me. One of my retirement benefit plans has come through, but Social Security and the other half of my retirement plans are butting heads. The teacher retirement system will not pay benefits until the Social Security Admin. certifies my disability, and the SS people rejected my first application (made in March - when it became apparent that this would be my last school year) on the grounds that I was still working... I have reapplied to SS - but since my 2011/2012 school year contract pays me through 15 Aug. on the prorated salary system - SS says I am still working full time until then! I am really concerned about paying bills this Fall until all that gets sorted out - I am only 48 years old, so I need to try to find something I can still do at least part time. I am looking into Vocational Rehab. through my state and thinking about medical transcription as I am still able to type. I may also be able to substitute at my school part time - as long as I don't have to carry around glassware (I was a science teacher, and setting up the laboratory was getting kinda hairy - nothing like a fall when carrying a box of test tubes or beakers!) and can use my wheelchair to minimize fatigue. I am doing my best to use this time to take the best care of myself as possible - eating carefully, doing physical therapy, and anything else I can do to improve my overall health. I am trying to be positive too!
