How to celebrate senior independence.
Do you feel frustrated, angry, or hurt when someone tries to treat you like you’re not an adult? Infantilization, or treating someone as though they’re an infant, is a harmful and negative pattern that often shows up for people when they’re older. Some may forget you’ve been autonomous and self-sufficient for many years. Here’s how to ensure people recognize and treat you as an adult:
- Set boundaries: The way people talk to you — their tone of voice, speed of speaking, and content you discuss — is a good indicator of how they see you. While it’s totally understandable if you need someone to speak slower or more loudly, automatically assuming you need to be spoken to in a certain way is disrespectful.
- Have important conversations: Talk to people about the things you care about. It may be uncomfortable to discuss certain topics with people (death, sex, politics), but that doesn’t mean you should allow them to become taboo.
- Celebrate growing older: You have a lot of life experiences that the people in your life can benefit from hearing about. Don’t be afraid to celebrate your wisdom, strengths and talents with a neighbor, peer or younger person in your life.
