Autism Parenting Magazine Issue 65(Member's Dashboard) | Page 61

AUTISM NEWS Ways a New Smartwatch Makes Caring for an Autistic Loved One Easier By Clifford WADDELL and Savannah BOWEN P inPoint Technologies, Inc. is a smartwatch start-up based out of Detroit, Michigan, that has made it a goal to help the autism community. It was founded by its chief op- erating officer, Quincy Hyatt, a Detroit na- tive. Quincy, who has a sister with special needs, knows all too well what families af- fected by autism experience every day. Like some families affected by autism, Quincy and the Hyatt family endured many distressing incidents when his sister wandered way, sometimes for long periods of time. After experiencing these episodes one too many times, Quincy developed his own solution. He set out to make sure that no other family went through the same thing. In 2010, Quincy assembled a team and later secured patents for a wearable phone and GPS locating de- vice that offers exclusive safety features. Given Quin- cy’s experience and his connection with the autism community, the PinPoint team dedicated a significant amount of time and resources to develop a product that would be useful to the autism community. Autism Parenting Magazine | Issue 65 | 61