#325: The BECA: An Autism Assessment for Physicians, Researchers, Parents, and Autism Professionals
Turn Autism AroundShow Notes
The Barbera Early Childhood Assessment (BECA) is a free, 10-minute digital autism screener designed for parents, physicians, researchers, and autism professionals. Created by Dr. Mary Barbera, the BECA assesses self-care, language, and behavior to provide a quick, reliable snapshot of a child's development. It's ideal for early detection, tracking progress, and guiding intervention, without long waitlists or costly evaluations. With over 65,000 users and 3 million data points collected, the BECA is transforming how we screen for autism and developmental delays.
More from Turn Autism Around
Michelle C. shares her daughter Elena's autism success story, from severe language delays and tantrums at age two to thriving in a general education third-grade classroom. After COVID disrupted therapy services, Michelle used the Turn Autism Around® approach to assess Elena's skills, build communication, make learning enjoyable, and track progress. Elena went from using only a few meaningful words to hundreds, while Michelle gained the confidence and tools to support her development. Today, Michelle also helps other families as a Team Barbera coach.
Mary Barbera welcomes back Michelle, a parent and autism coach, to share her daughter Elena's remarkable journey. Michelle discusses recognizing early signs of regression, receiving an autism diagnosis, and navigating therapy shutdowns during COVID-19. She shares how implementing at-home teaching strategies helped Elena progress from two words to 180 words and phrases in just 33 days. Now eight years old and thriving in third grade, Elena continues to make progress. Michelle reflects on the challenges her family overcame and the importance of empowering parents to actively participate in their children's development.
Mary Barbera interviews longtime collaborator Tracy Rasmussen about helping her 16-month-old granddaughter, Cece, who was showing signs of a speech delay. Tracy shares the strategies she learned through Mary's program, including language sampling, modeling words, repetition, structured table time, and reducing pressure around speaking. She also discusses Cece's early progress with new word approximations, communication, and cooperation. The program is designed to give parents, grandparents, and professionals practical tools they can use to help children build stronger communication and language skills.
Dr. Mary Barbera explains why "free" autism advice and therapy can still carry a cost when they delay real progress. Mary shares two parent stories: Ruth, who spent 150+ hours piecing together free content without a step-by-step plan, and Kelsey, who had funded therapy in place but watched her son work on the wrong goals. Both stories point to the same lesson: parents need to become the "Captain of the Ship" with a clear plan for teaching language, reducing problem behaviors, and supporting progress every day.
When a child has words but speaks too quietly to hear, low volume may be connected to confidence, fluency, and how difficult the word feels. In this coaching call excerpt, Dr. Mary Barbera explains how to increase talking and voice volume by giving the answer, modeling words clearly, slowing down practice, using 3D objects, matching, microphones, mirrors, songs, outdoor play, and weekly word lists. The goal is to shape louder, clearer communication without constant correction or pressure.