PHOENIX — Jaxon Behnke is your typical 12-year-old boy: he loves to watch YouTube videos, plays on the jungle gym and hangs out with his family. His dad, Justin Behnke, said he can do just about anything any other kid can do.
But Justin often worried what would happen if Jaxon got lost. As an autistic child who is non-verbal, the possibility of Jaxon walking away from his family or getting lost was not just frightening: it was Justin’s daily fear.
“He’s a runner, he’s fast,” Justin said. “In the event he goes missing, there’s no way for him to tell anybody who he is.”
That’s how Justin came up with ScanMeHome: an app and QR code to help Jaxon and anyone who is worried about a loved one going missing.
The QR code is on a patch, which can be ironed onto a shirt. The QR code allows the person who scans it to access information about the person wearing the patch.
The information can include the person’s name, a phone number to call in case of emergency, allergies the person may have and other medical information.
When the QR code is scanned, family members who have the ScanMeHome app are notified, and can see where the QR code was scanned.
“You can scan his code, click the phone number and you can say ‘hey your kid is on aisle 13,’” Justin said. “Instead of hours and days of somebody going missing and not knowing how to reconnect with them.”
For Jaxon, the patch design is essential: while tags on a person’s clothing that detail important medical information or an ID bracelet may work for some, tags and bracelets can bother people with sensory processing disorders.
The QR code and app gave Justin "peace of mind" he was desperately looking for.
“A frantic five minutes felt like forever, an eternity, [when] we’re looking for our son,” Justin said.
Now, it is Justin's goal to ensure as many people as possible have access to ScanMeHome, from families in similar situations to his own to families with loved ones who may have dementia or Alzheimer’s.
“It’s not the end all be all, but it’s a chance,” Justin said.
To learn more about ScanMeHome, head to the website, scanmehome.com.
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