Behavior Assessment Battery for School-Age Children Who Stutter

The Behavior Assessment Battery for Children and Adolescents Who Stutter, Second Edition (BAB) is a web-based, research-based assessment instrument designed to evaluate the affective, behavioral, and cognitive reactions of school-age children and adolescents who stutter. The BAB offers a multidimensional profile of how children and adolescents feel about, react to, and think about their speech and communication.

Building on decades of research and worldwide clinical use, this new online-only edition updates the original print package with an intuitive user interface, automated scoring, and immediate interpretation of the self-report test results. Clinicians simply log in, complete the questionnaires with their client, and receive results instantly—no manual scoring, norm-table lookups, or separate scoring keys required. Each score is automatically analyzed for clinical significance, streamlining decision-making and supporting evidence-based therapy planning.

Components of the BAB:
The BAB includes four self-report tests:

• Speech Situation Checklist – Emotional Reaction (SSC-ER): Evaluates the child’s emotional response across a variety of speaking situations.
• Speech Situation Checklist – Speech Disruption (SSC-SD): Measures the degree of speech disruption a child anticipates or experiences in those same situations.
• Behavior Checklist (BCL): Identifies the coping responses and strategies a child uses to avoid or escape stuttering .
• Communication Attitude Test (CAT): Assesses the child’s overall attitude toward their speech and communication abilities.

Together, these procedures give clinicians a clear, multidimensional understanding of the clients’ internal experience related to stuttering.

Clinical Use and Interpretation:
The BAB provides an “inside view” of a child’s speech-related feelings, reactions, and attitude, complementing observable behaviors gathered from traditional fluency assessments. By examining total and item-level scores across the SSC-ER, SSC-SD, BCL, and CAT, clinicians can:

• Identify the emotional, behavioral and cognitive factors that might be part of the person who stutters
• Determine areas of vulnerability and resilience
• Guide the selection of treatment strategies and therapeutic goals
• Serve as outcome measure - monitor change over time and measure progress

The BAB includes a downloadable Manual, and four tests:

• Speech Situation Checklist – Emotional Reaction (SSC-ER): Evaluates the child’s emotional response across a variety of speaking situations.
• Speech Situation Checklist – Speech Disruption (SSC-SD): Measures the degree of speech disruption a child anticipates or experiences in those same situations.
• Behavior Checklist (BCL): Identifies the coping responses and strategies a child uses to avoid or escape stuttering .
• Communication Attitude Test (CAT): Assesses the child’s overall attitude toward their speech and communication abilities.