very country and region of the world, and in families of all racial, ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds, with each individual's symptoms and characteristics presenting themselves in a variety of ways.
             As scientists of the past and present found difficulty classifying autism as a specific disorder, so do professionals who attempt to assess and diagnose autism. One of the strongest problems with assessment of autism is that the diagnosis is based on subjective criteria that are difficult to determine. The "umbrella" diagnosis is pervasive developmental disorder, which not only includes autism, but several other related disorders including Asperger's disorder, Rett's disorder and Fragile X Syndrome. Each of these disorders share similarities across categories of socialization, language, behavior, and neurology, thus there are no accurate medical tests for assessing autism. The only way a precise
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