Age Simulation Reflection

Age isn’t just a Number

As a teenager who has never experienced hearing loss or the loss of physical movement, I have never been very aware of the obstacles that elders face. After carrying out the activity for this week, I have gained a better insight as to what older Americans experience while living in a country that so dearly values youth. Many young citizens in our country see older people as incapable citizens that need taking care of, which makes them seem like a burden to the American ideas of independence and stability. However, it is only once people grow older that they become aware of the struggles that older people fight through in order to seem independent. While temporarily impairing my hearing, I learned more about myself, the people around me, and especially more about the older people in my life and the struggles that they must endure because of their age.

I carried out the exercise while I was in school. I am an office aid, so I have multiple encounters with people both on the phone and in person. I felt that this would be an ideal situation in order to simulate an accurate experience someone with hearing loss. As my day began, I sat in a calculus class with my other classmates. I found it very difficult to understand what the professor was saying, especially because there were people talking all around me. The following period is when I am an office aid, and at the beginning of the period I answered multiple phone calls. Throughout these discussions, I had to repeditly ask the person on the other end of the phone to repeat themselves or speak louder. I became frustrated because I still could not hear them clearly, so I transferred them to the secretary’s desk so she could answer their