Whether he knows it or not, 6ft 5in Zane Dowd from San Marino School will become a role model for children born deaf.
He was one of them, 60% deaf from birth. He rebelled against wearing hearing aids. While he was growing up, he took them off constantly. In high school, he said, he realized how much they could help him and stopped worrying about what people thought. He should be the best basketball player for League favorite Rio Hondo San Marino this season.
“I accepted that I have hearing loss,” he said. “When I was younger, I didn't really want to come to terms with it. I didn't want to wear hearing aids all the time. I didn't want to use my aids. I denied that I had them and acted as if I could live my whole life without hearing aids. As I got older, I realized that I couldn't hear without them…”
He is an excellent student and discovered that his parents were right.
“My parents always told me, ‘You need to wear them,’” he said. “I said I don’t need to wear them.”
In high school, he learned that he could hear better by talking to people and listening to his coach. Maturity and experience taught him to succeed.
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