My take on aging

I think aging and more generally hidden 
disabilities need to be addressed 
explicitly.  Now looking in the mirror 
reminds me of aging each day, so that's 
not hidden.  But the disabilities of 
aging are often not severe individually. 
  Vision is reduced, but not to legal 
blindness.  Mobility is reduced, but not 
removed.  A elderly person may not be 
able to drive, and public transportation 
may be limited or unusable.  It doesn't 
take a lot of these physical and mental 
infringement to accumulate into a major 
loss of function and life includes just 
too many barriers to participate.

The issue of being labeled is a tough 
reality to face.  Admitting the 
limitations of one's age may not is not 
as bad as saying, "I'm an alcoholic," 
but it’s a rough piece of acceptance. 
However, a person cannot find 
accommodation for a disability without 
first admitting a problem exists.

So, I think we need to address the issue 
of aging and the host of milder 
disabilities that can accumulate to shut 
people off from the world.  We need to 
be gentle, because we may be asking 
people to accept something they want to 
deny.  The gain for those individuals is 
however much greater than the initial 
shock of self admission.  The web is 
such a ubiquitous vehicle for connecting 
to the world that we need to make its 
presence known for those who want to use 
it.

Received on Friday, 29 July 2005 12:29:11 UTC