Final answer:
Older adults commonly face speech recognition issues and may have their hearing hampered by conditions such as earwax buildup. Age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis, severely affects higher frequencies and impacts music and speech comprehension.
Step-by-step explanation:
Older adults develop difficulties with speech recognition. Earwax buildup conditions hamper hearing for the elderly. As people age, they often experience presbycusis, which is the most common form of hearing loss in late adulthood. This type of hearing loss is increasingly severe at higher frequencies and can significantly interfere with music appreciation and speech recognition. In addition, older adults can suffer from conductive hearing loss due to blockages such as earwax buildup or degenerative changes in the ear structures.