Designing for the Life Span Segment 3

Slide 64 Content

Summary Conclusions - the Onset of Sensory Change:

While aging is a process that begins with birth, so-called "normal age losses" signal the beginning of physiological aging as declining capacity and capability;
The onset of age-related sensory modality change occurs in the middle years, the 40s and 50s with hearing and vision changes;
Sensory modality change is a gray area of disability and, since many changes are normal and not pathological, not considered disabilities at all;
Significant change occurs to vision and hearing while tactile, taste and olfactory sensitivity remain relatively constant until much later in life;
The rates of change vary from individual to individual, but nonetheless are inexorable - some, such as visual acuity changing rapidly in the middle years, others through a more evolutionary process;
Adaptation to sensory modality change happens through the behavior of the individual, uses of technological enhancements such as eye glasses and alterations made to environments and products.

Summary conclusions regarding the onset of sensory change include...