Oh damn another wannabe Scratcher post

Yeah kinda what it says in the title, but hear me out and throw me a reply if you would. I've been a working illustrator for nearly 10 years, working on commission for clients. I've always had an interest in tattooing and for the past 5 years, had an interest in applying my art skills to tattooing. However, I also have a disability (a connective tissue disease - among other things causes a lot of back and joint pain) which means I will never be able to work full time or long hours, and need to be careful about ergonomics etc. This had, for quite a while, made me feel that the tattooing dream was not to be - but lately I stumbled on more information about lighter machines, better setups etc and it reignited the flame to find out whether I could do this shit. But the disability leads back to another problem: apprenticeships. From everything I've seen so far, if you can get an apprenticeship at all, artists are looking for someone who can work full-time, not someone who has a disability and needs to work around that and be limited by that. Part time apprenticeships do not appear to be A Thing. Did I mention I live in continental Europe while I'm a native English speaker, and it's pretty xenophobic towards foreigners around these parts? Yeah. I am not ruling out going and bugging for apprenticeships, but at the moment I'm thinking I have a disadvantage. Other tattoo enthusiasts and indeed the artist I've been to here reckon that self-teaching is the way to go. I'm definitely a bit put off by the number of "omg scratchers so evil" posts I see everywhere online, which assume that you have no ability to access proper information on hygiene etc, nor a brain to apply it. That you will buy a kit from eBay and start messing up people's skin as soon as you can get your dirty little mitts on it. As opposed to, well, self-teaching. But what I am asking is this. What are the options - is the prospect of a part time apprenticeship not as crazy as all that? Do they exist, are they hard to get? (keeping in mind I have no wish to apprentice for someone who tattoos like shit) Is trying to become a tattooer while having a disability "inadvisable"? Is self-teaching absolutely evil, or can you do it RIGHT? For what it's worth I don't own a tattoo machine, I'm just working away at my regular artwork job and no scratches have been made/fruit harmed in production of this post. Thank you!