We need your help ... we need to make Scenari-Aid more accessible.

Scenari-Aid is a free online "social simulator" which helps people who stutter become more confident in different ways. Stuttering is a condition that directly affects 1% of the world's adult population and leads to many having unfulfilled destinies. Currently there is no cure for stuttering.
By practicing in a simulated setting, people learn to deal with commonly encountered stressful situations - from ordering food to job interviews.
People using Scenari-Aid have told us that it would really help them if they could practice at (or before) a time of stress. This means we need to make Scenari-Aid more accessible - we need to make it available across a range of mobile platforms and tablets.

To do this we're asking you to help us raise $25,000 - so that Scenari-Aid can be accessed via mobile devices and tablets. This will give more people access to the website in more flexible and varied ways, ways that would make a significant difference to their lives.

While we are determined to reach our initial fundraising goal, we also have stretch goals!
If we raise an extra $5,000 ($30,000 total), we can build new tools - like diaries - where people can set their own goals and record their practice, making it a much richer experience. If we raise another $20,000 ($50,000 total!), we will record a wider range of scenarios! For every $5,000 that we raise over $50,000 - we will create an alternative language version of selected Scenari-Aid clips.

There are two ways you can support the Scenari-Aid project. The first way is by making a pledge here on Pozible. The second way to support us, even if you can't make a pledge, is to use your social media skills: select us on Facebook and spruik us on your Twitter account.. Please spread the word of this campaign in any way that you can. Thanks for your support.

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What is Scenari-Aid?
Scenari-Aid is a streaming website containing over 100 digitally recorded scenarios. Registration and use is free to everyone. Scenari-Aid offers people who stutter a way to practice fluency-shaping techniques and to address issues of social anxiety. The idea is that these skills and new found confidence can then be taken into the real world. We do not prescribe how to use Scenari-Aid. How, when and why is completely up to each person's aims and needs.

Scenarios currently available to users of Scenari-Aid include:

- Job interviews
- Cafes & restaurants
- General shops
- Movie theatres
- Car sales yards and many more

Scenari-Aid is a project from the University of Ballarat’s Technologies for Empowering People for Participation in Society (TEPPS) programme lead by Grant Meredith. TEPPS focuses on the the design and creation of "assertive technologies" of which Scenari-Aid is one. The aim of TEPPS and Scenari-Aid is to alleviate those "what if" moments in a person's life and to encourage people to be more active within an enriched society.

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Encouraging Feedback:
It has been so satisfying to hear from people using Scenari-Aid that such a simple concept is having profound effects on their lives. Some great stories and feedback have emerged from users of Scenari-Aid:


A surprise for us is that we found that Scenari-Aid has a much wider target audience – which includes people recovering from stroke, those with developmental disorders, the long-term unemployed, and even those wishing to improve their general English skills. Such a simple platform has a wide range of uses and associated benefits.

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The Scenari-Aid Story
The beautiful story that emerged from the development of Scenari-Aid is really one about the goodwill of local people who assisted in the project. While we were fortunate to receive some seed funding from the Helen Mcpherson Smith Trust, we were quite "financially challenged".
So we asked the local community of Ballarat to assist with voluntarily staging the scenarios. The result was heart-warming and all the included scenarios were shot authentically on location with "real" people!

This allowed us to produce our first version of Scenari-Aid which was a DVD, which we distributed (free) to over 1000 Australian and worldwide users (including speech therapists and clinics). We surveyed our users who stuttered and the results were very encouraging. They indicated that Scenari-Aid generally:

- Improved their general fluency
- Increased their social confidence
- Eased levels of related anxieties
- Assisted with real world fluency transfer
- Helped to self-critique fluency progress
- Was seen as a valuable tool

The Website:
Next, to overcome the limitations and costs of publishing and distributing a DVD, we decided to expand and transform Scenari-Aid into a free streaming website. With the aid of a small grant from the Telematics Trust, we developed and released Scenari-Aid as a free streaming website with a greatly expanded scenario base, which included many more challenging situations. Within the first month of release the website attracted 100s of registered users, 1,000s of hits and a lot global praise.


http://www.scenariaid.com

We know that Scenari-Aid is enabling people who stutter to become more confident people. We know that Scenari-Aid is making a positive difference in the lives of many. What Scenari-Aid currently lacks is the ability to be accessed across mobile platforms. Please help us improve people's quality of life, and help us to enrich society.

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Supporters
This campaign is proudly endorsed by the:

- Australian Speak Easy Association;
- McGuire Programme (Australia)

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Contact: Grant Meredith
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/scenariaid
Twitter: @GrantMeredith1
#stutter, #stuttering, #stammer, #stammering, #scenariaid

* Campaign profile photograph used with permission from The Ballarat Courier, 2013. Photograph by Jeremy Bannister.