TSC Indaba 2018!

On the 17th of November, I was scrolling through Face-book when something caught my eye; "TSC Indaba UCT 24th November 2018". What particularly excited me were the words; "We invite you to join...families and individuals who live with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC)". Now please understand, I'm 24-years-old, throughout my childhood (and brief adulthood), I have met many people with epilepsy and other genetic disorders, however, I have only met one other person with TSC. So to be offered the opportunity to meet "families" truly excited me. Not to mention the world renowned Prof. Petrus de Vries was going to be there! The last time I read about a conference that he attended, it was in Washington D.C, therefore, I was not planning to miss this Indaba. My mind was made up.

The Indaba was amazing! It is a kind of informal meeting, there were seven families, myself along with three speakers; who updated us on the latest and greatest new in the field of TSC. Everybody shared their journeys thus far. It was fascinating to here everybody's experiences, especially how different a father's experience is to a mother's experience in all cases. 

As we spoke, Prof. de Vries took note of questions, concerns and expectations. The ones I can recall are the following;

• What can parents expect in there child's future? (in terms of development, schooling, medicine, adapting into society and so on)
• Requesting more parental support, such as; availability of information and meetings. 
• To build a TSC family or community.
• To work towards better support systems for adults with TSC. 
• How to make the transition from adolescence to adulthood in terms of doctors more simple.
• How to integrate adults with TSC into society, in terms of finding accommodating jobs and in some cases educated and willing care takers.

I found these points interesting, some had not even crossed my mind before. I hope that in some way, I may help in some of these areas. Prof. de Vries as well as the other speakers seemed excited at the progress of the Indaba and were excited to begin innovating some ideas to accommodate future generations concerning these points. I am truly excited for what the future holds. 

I would like to extend a huge thank you to:

• Professor Petrus de Vries 
• Professor Regan Solomons 
• Dr. Birgit Schlegel 
• Max de Vries     

 Looking forward to the next gathering. If anybody in the audience is in the Gauteng area, who would like to have a similar gathering, please leave a comment below, so that arrangements may be made. Kind Regards Alexis Minnaar.
             

Tuberous Sclerosis South Africa