1. Review the case scenario.
Case Scenario
Your neighbor tells you that his eleven-year-old daughter has been having behavior and academic problems in school. “Her teacher recommended taking her to the pediatrician to get a prescription for Ritalin,” he said.
2. Record your immediate response to the scenario. Applying inductive reasoning to the case, extract and list salient details. Beside each detail, explain why you have identified it as relevant and any additional thoughts you have. This approach will help you explore ideas and synthesize information as you conduct research for, and prepare to write, your paper.
3. In a well-thought-out paper, integrating information from the course learning resources and externally sourced scholarly works (e.g., journal articles found in our UMGC Library), …
a. Make an argument for why your neighbor should first talk with his daughter’s pediatrician about a specialty referral for an evaluation by a clinical psychologist.
b. Discuss the role of the clinical psychologist.
c. Provide clear arguments for 1) the types of assessment tools the psychologist might use in his or her evaluation, 2) the specific aspects that make the selected tools applicable to the case scenario, and 3) how these tools would help in guiding diagnosis and treatment. Be purposeful in this discussion and avoid generalizations.

4. Within the document…
a. Introduce. Concisely introduced the reader to the case salient details. Clearly define terms and theory when introduced in the paper.
b. Have purpose. Clearly address the relevance of the clinical psychologist’s role, and applicable assessment tools in support of diagnosis and treatment, as applicable to the case. Include support from existing literature. All topics are to be discussed in clear detail.
c. Connect. In the introduction of the case, and in the discussion of the clinical assessment, provide sufficient detail to support assertions made. Express interrelated ideas coherently and logically. (You are encouraged to include insights in your recommendations as you address the key issues of the paper.)
d. Include sources. Use appropriate sources of information that ground your argument in well-established, empirically sound science and practice. Incorporate course sources and peer-reviewed professional sources from our UMGC Library.
e. Use Authorial Voice. Discuss materials in your own words and your own writing style and structure. Avoid excessive use of direct quotes. Doing so may incur a point penalty for each occurrence and will not be accepted as content towards the page count of the Thoughtful Response paper.
f. Apply APA Style**. Neatly and concisely present a coherent essay, in approximately 700-1000 words, and formatted in APA style. The document should contain…
• Title Page (does not count towards word count)
• Introduction
• Main body of the paper that addresses…
• argument for first seeing a clinical psychologist
• the role of the clinical psychologist
• applicable types of assessment tools
• how selected assessment tools assist diagnosis and treatment
• Conclusions
• References (does not count towards word count)
• Properly formatted in-text citations and references