Come On, Rocco, Let’s Go to the Hospital!: Visual Support Tool for Autism, Emergency Care, Communication, and Understanding

A hospital can be frightening for anyone. For a person with autism who is nonverbal, overwhelmed by sensory input, or unable to communicate pain in an expected way, emergency care can become especially difficult.Come On, Rocco, Let's Go to the Hospital! is a practical visual support resource created from lived experience after Rocco swallowed a small object at school and required emergency evaluation. His experience revealed how quickly fear, communication differences, sensory distress, pica, elopement risk, and unfamiliar medical procedures can collide.Created by Rocco's mother, Ashlee Savia DeConinck, this resource helps individuals with autism preview what may happen, gives families a structured way to communicate essential information, and supports emergency professionals in providing safer, calmer, and more individualized care.Inside are visual hospital sequences, simple communication cards, body and pain supports, caregiver and clinician forms, sensory guidance, emergency staff reference pages, safety profiles, and practical language for explaining care one step at a time.This resource is designed for individuals with autism, parents, caregivers, nurses, physicians, emergency departments, hospitals, urgent care teams, schools, and other professionals supporting people with communication and sensory needs.The guiding principle is simple: see the person before the behavior. When families and professionals understand one another, necessary care can become more possible while dignity remains protected.