Participants Receive the Gift of Technology and Hope

Date posted: December 19, 2016

Participants of Stepping Stones’ Adult Day Services program received gifts of technology this holiday season!

“I told myself this year I wouldn’t cry,” said Gretchen Dinerman as she wiped a tear. She and her family were listening to a 35-year-old man who struggles to speak tell them how their gift gave him a voice. 

Last year, Robert received an iPad Air Go device from the Margot Dinerman Gifts of Hope program. With the iPad and a special arm to mount it onto his wheelchair, Robert is able to program his words into the device and activate them with his hand.

This December 1st, Robert was one of 11 adults with developmental disabilities in Stepping Stones’ Adult Day program who received technology from the Dinerman family at a ceremony at Stepping Stones’ UCP location in Norwood. The giving tradition commemorates Gretchen and Robert Dinerman’s daughter, Margot, who had cerebral palsy and could not walk or talk. She was barely a teen when she died, more than 40 years ago – long before there were advances in technology that could have made such a difference in her life. 

“We’ll never know the wonderful things Margot could have done with today’s technology,” said Stepping Stones’ executive director Chris Adams. “But because of Margot and her family, the Gifts of Hope program is making life easier for other people’s sons and daughters through donations of assistive technology and communication aids.”

Gretchen and Robert Dinerman and their children listened as Robert activated his new voice. 

“Hello, nice to see you again,” said Robert. “Thank you for this app, iPad and arm. I want to tell you how much I enjoy working on it. I am using it to write a book and make a movie. I get to tell my story about myself and my friends and family. The iPad brought me closer to my friends because I like to take their pictures and send and receive emails. I have been working hard on my iPad. It makes me feel good. Thank you very much!”

At the ceremony, the Dinerman family presented iPads, iPods, apps, cases, accessories and even a sensory tablet which produces raised letters for a young man who is blind. The Margot Dinerman Gifts of Hope are personal gifts from one family to another. Robert Dinerman said the program has opened his eyes to the huge needs many families face. “You would think that these resources would be available,” he said. “It seems like such a small thing, but it means so much.”