Prep talk: San Marino’s Zane Daoud embraces his hearing aids
Whether he knows it or not, 6-foot-5 Zane Daoud of San Marino High is going to be a role model for kids born deaf.
He was one of them, 60% deaf since birth. He rebelled against wearing hearing aids. He’d take them off constantly while growing up. By high school, he says he figured out how much they could help him and stopped worrying what people thought. He should be a top basketball player for Rio Hondo League favorite San Marino this season.
“I’ve accepted 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 my hearing aids all the time. I didn’t want to use my accommodations. I denied I had it and acted like I could go through my life without my hearing aids. As I got older, I realized I can’t hear without them..”
He’s a straight-A student and discovered his parents were right.
“My parents were always telling me, ‘You need to wear them,’” he said. “I said I didn’t need to wear them.”
In high school, he learned he could hear better talking to people and listening to his coach. Maturity and experiences have taught him how to succeed.
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