Meet Hilda Dunford | Parent mentor and special needs parent

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hilda Dunford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hilda, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
I think the most important lesson I’ve taught my kids is to teach them to believe in themselves. When they ask if I’m proud of them, I always tell them I am, but I also ask them if they are proud of themselves and tell them that’s what really matters. I want them to feel proud of themselves in everything they do. I want to teach them that they can do hard things by believing in themselves. I think as adults we also struggle with our own self esteem when we weren’t taught to believe in ourselves as children. I hope my kids always remember how strong and capable they are as they get older and thoroughly their lives.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I teach parenting classes part time and love working with families that are part of a non profit in our area and I also create videos and share our journey as parents raising our son who is blind. I want to spread blindness awareness and share the message blind children are just as capable as sighted children. I’m proud of my son who is changing the world with his story and giving hope to so many other parents who are just getting their child’s diagnosis of blindness. I get messages from parents of children who are blind who find so much hope in reading and learning about my son’s journey. It’s beautiful knowing his story is making a difference for so many people.

My son has taught me to see the world with my heart instead of my eyes. I’ve learned so many beautiful lessons being his mom. I hope no parent ever feels alone when they receive their child’s diagnosis of blindness and they find hope in our story and a resource to support them in the early days of their child’s diagnosis.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

If someone was visiting Utah, I would take them to park city in the winter and to ski at park city mountain resort. That is our favorite winter ski resort here in Utah.

We could walk down Main Street in park city and eat at one of the restaurants there and also check out the stores and light displays during Christmas time. There are also other outdoor winter sports we could do in park city. Like cross country skiing, there’s lots of trails, we could visit the ice castles in soldier hollow or go tubing there too. Park City is one of our favorite places here in Utah. But we also love visiting the national parks in southern Utah.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Every early intervention program and therapists that ever worked with my son taught me about advocating and guiding him and finding the right tools to help him thrive

Also the adaptive recreation program that has helped my son reach so many of his goals is The National Ability Center. They have adaptive ski instructors that have taught my son how to ski independently and to try so many winter sports in Park City.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/ourblindside

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ourblindside/

Other: www.tiktok.com/@our_blindside

Image Credits
This is our picture we took ourselves. image credit is Hilda Dunford