A Reluctant Product of Therapy

Like many pediatricians and other adults who spend most of their time around children, she used false enthusiasm to cover up her other emotions. And also like many other adults who make spending time with children their jobs, she lived under the assumption that children were unable to see through this falsehood, and that children would somehow find this enthusiasm entertaining, or comforting, or relatable. But every time she smiled at me, the skin on her face bunching up under her cheeks and forehead to make room for her unnaturally large grin, I would cry. Because instead of her smile being reassuring, it confirmed to me that something was wrong. Not only that something was wrong, but that something was wrong with me. Her name was Ann, and she was one of my physical therapists. For three or four one-month spouts between the ages of three and twelve, my mother dragged me to her twice a week to undergo some new-wave quack therapy called Tomatis, a treatment in which I wore enormous headphones and listened to high-pitched opera music for hours on end, which, the doctor claimed, was supposed to cure everything from ADD to depression. At times I have convinced myself that all the time I spent with Ann was pointless. She was a board-certified torturer. And who was I for living through this? I was the glorious survivor, who was able to outlast her condescension and her misreading of my abilities, and through a philosophy of self-reliance and emotional fortitude, let my suppressed intelligence and charm blossom! It was, at least, easier to believe this. However, I have come to realize going through therapy as a child increased my success in social and academic spheres as an adult. I have to admit now that as a child I was slow to learn to read. I remember sitting in my 1st grade classroom with my paper reading exercise book, which had shorter words than everybody else’s, stumbling through â€Å"The Cat and the Mat†. My mild cerebral palsy was also something visible; I have home videos of me running like a duck on the soccer field, my right foot making a ninety-degree angle outward with each step. Perhap s I was just a late-bloomer for reading, and my cerebral palsy magically disappeared when I matured. But more likely, it was the many hours I spent in therapy that propelled me to be a good student, if not an exceptional athlete, as a young adult. My physical therapist, Skippy forced me to my physical limits on the treadmill, even though my limit might have been fifteen minutes on the lowest speed. I learned to take sports, and many other aspects of my life, seriously, not covering them up with shoulder shrugs and sarcastic jokes. My reading tutor Erin nurtured me to love reading, putting an MM on the bottom of every page I read correctly. The pleasure of candied bribery turned into actual enjoyment as I was able to move up from such boring books as â€Å"The Cat and the Mat† into riveting classics such as Harriet the Spy. Now reading has not only turned into one of my favorite free-time pleasures, but is also one of my major academic strengths; being able to read well and un derstand words has allowed me to write good research papers for history and to understand complex concepts in my biology textbook. Even Ann, while I was listening to that terrible music, engaged me in games of Scrabble Jr. and checkers, fostering my competitiveness and love for solving puzzles. Therapy is a gift I have learned to appreciate; many of the things I consider part of my unique trademark – my love of reading, my love of puzzles, my frankness and sincerity learned in defiance to the tyranny of fake smiles – were a result of therapy. Therapy made me who I am.

Harley Davidson Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Harley Davidson - Case Study Example (Harley Davidson.com) As Harley Davidson is the market leader through a differentiation strategy and unique customization ability and because of high costumer loyalty as company's wide sponsored events and close interactions with its customers. Most market leaders are companies focused on low cost, mass production capacity in which the firm takes advantage of its economies of scale. Harley Davidson's continuous improvement in design, engineering and processes allow for such a leadership through customization and results in operational excellence. Harley Davidson has a grate net work of its dealer ship and has over 1300 dealers through out the world. In 2005, Harley Davidson motorcycles were sold in over 60 countries, with an international sales growth of 15%. For the first six months of 2006, motorcycle sales were up 11 percent and interest continues because of the high gas prices according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. In 2004, the most recent year data was available, the industry posted $7.6 billion in sales of 725,000 on-highway bikes, up from nearly $4.7 billion in 2000 with 471,000 bikes sold. Harley-Davidson brand bikes represented 48.9% of the approximate 517,600 total new U.S. registrations in 2005, down slightly from a 49.5% market share in 2004. In 2005, there were about 252,900 new U.S registrations of the brand's heavyweight motorcycles, up from about 244,500 in 2004. Harley Davidson's closest competitors in U.S. market share in 2005 were Honda (16.6%) and Suzuki (12.4%). Because of Harley Davidson's dormant market share and strength of its brand name, there is little direct price competition. There are High Barriers to Entry to the market. The first is the length of time it takes to build up technical capabilities. The second barrier to entry is the enormous dealer networks that the entrenched players have. There are fairly few but highly competitive brands the motorcycle industry. Most of Harley Davidson's competitors are outside of the US where they hold a dominant share of the market. There is an emotional connection to owning a motorcycle that diminishes the threat of substitution In fact, the motorcycle industry has been cited as a beneficiary of the rise in oil and gas prices and thus has become a more viable substitute to automobiles. Harley Davidson motorcycles represent a niche lifestyle product that buyers will want to purchase regardless of the price so HDI is able to pass on increased costs to its customers. The rise in aluminum, steel and oil could continue to impact production costs over the next several quarters. However, we expect this rise to be moderate as the raw material industries are fragmented and competitive. Corporate Strategy: HDI always focused on the brand name recognition since its inception and desirability of its

HOW DOES INTERPROFESSIONAL WORKING IMPACT ON PROFESSIONAL Essay

HOW DOES INTERPROFESSIONAL WORKING IMPACT ON PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE CLINICAL SETTING - Essay Example The patient will be referred to as Mr. X to maintain confidentiality as stated in the nursing and midwifery code of professional conduct (2007). The author’s interest in Mr. X is based on his clinical experience and reflection of his involvement in the delivery of his care. The positive and negative aspects of inter-professional team will be discussed. Also, the author will use appropriate literature to examine how responsibility and accountability can be enhanced through inter-professional working. According to Alan (2007), Inter-professional working is defined as a practice where a number of professionals with different qualifications come together to meet a particular target. Some of their characteristics include direct service delivery, good professional relationship, collaboration and communal trust. Further, Matrix and Weeds (2007) describe Inter-professional working as a group of professionals with complementary skills, who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement. Inter-professional working includes collaborative practice, multi-professional working and team working. This is supported by Mickan and Rodger, (2000a) who describe teamwork as shared and agreed responsibilities, decision making and problem solving. The members of an inter-professional team communicate effectively in order to provide quality patient care. According to Braine (2006), clinical governance should be viewed as an opportunity to improve care delivery in the aftermath of some highly publicised failures in the NHS in the 1990s. The most notable of these was the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry (2001) which accounts for 23 deaths of cardiac surgical paediatric patients. Other notable cases were the Royal Liverpool Children’s Inquiry (Alder Hey Inquiry), the case of the GP Harold Shipman (Smith 2005), and the trial of the nurse Beverly Allitt in 1993