Disease Socials!

I was recently speaking to someone who has an eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, which is a disease that causes progressive vision loss over the years. He organizes a meeting for people with the disease. However, his conference is not just about education on research developments and academic topics. It is a social meeting! He puts together this meeting for people with this somewhat rare disease to get together and share their experiences with others who are in the best position to understand those experiences. I think that this is a great idea. I wish more people could have in person support from such a community!