Aging AwarenessThe aging process begins at birth, or conception, depending on your position, and continues throughout life. It's a fact. Whatever your opinion, there is one inescapable certainty: throughout this meticulous process we call aging, change occurs – change that is unsolicited, irrevocable, and inevitable. Although many of the changes we face as we age are celebrated and embraced, not all changes are desirable and not all changes are pleasant. Some of the biggest changes humans experience over the course of their lives occur in late adulthood and during their later years. It is during this period that the majority of people will begin to experience sensory loss to some extent. In an attempt to understand what it means to live a day with less than ideal vision, hearing, and touch, I conducted my own experiments. As we age, conditions affecting vision become much more pronounced. Common conditions affecting vision, particularly in older adults, include glaucoma, cataracts, complications of diabetes, and macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is an age-related disease in which sharp, central vision, necessary for reading, driving, and other common daily tasks, is progressively diminished and essentially destroyed. To familiarize myself with this experience, I borrowed a pair of old glasses from a family member. As soon as I put the glasses on, I noticed that I lacked any depth perception. After hitting every wall and stubbing every toe at least three times, I decided I needed to slow down and regroup; this was going to require a plan. It really surprised me how frustrated I was when I found myself unable to navigate my own home because of this haze. Nevertheless, despite my wood... in the middle of a sheet of paper... I strive to pass anyone who moves too slowly for my liking. The younger shoppers were reaching out in front of the older ones, completely unaware that someone was standing there, to get what they needed, as it seemed the older shoppers were spending too much time trying to read the labels. Fundamentally, it is unfair to assume that all older and aging people receive poor treatment; however, our society as a whole does very little to disprove this hypothesis. Works CitedCaprio TV, WT (November 11, 2010). Aging-related changes in the senses. Retrieved from Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004013.htmDena Kemmet, SB (September 13, 2008). Making sense of sensory losses as we age: childhood, adulthood, old age? Retrieved from North Dakota State University: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/famsci/fs1378.html