But the focus of 20-year-old Nick Derosier of Cary and his father, Butch, is looking at autism as one specific case, one specific person.

Nick, whom his father describes as in the high-functioning range of the disorder, has had his ups and downs.

But his life is pretty good right now thanks to “angels” he’s met along the way and a good amount of his own elbow grease.

He works. He drives. He works out at a gym. He played on the football team at Cary High. He even made the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest achievement for a Boy Scout.

Perhaps his biggest “angel” is his father, who realizes that even as his son has grown from child to young man, he will need both fatherly advice and continued support to achieve his goals.

The world of autism, a disorder that impairs communication over a wide spectrum, is ever changing and endlessly controversial. Partly because Nick is considered high functioning, many people who meet him as he stocks food in the aisles at Trader Joe’s may not notice anything remarkable. “He can be so close to typical,” Butch said. “But when he gets overwhelmed, I know what he’s doing, but not everyone else does.”

Even a high-functioning autistic person has built-in challenges. Butch hears Nick’s slight speech impediment, not aided by surgery to remove a birthmark on his tongue, and the loud voice Nick uses in public when he feels overwhelmed. Butch sees how difficult and frustrating tasks like writing a paper about his Eagle Scout project are for Nick. Butch knows Nick must be careful not to push himself too hard physically because of a compromised immune system. And Butch watches and tries to help when Nick is discriminated against because of autism, whether in school or at a job.

Being mostly typical but typically misunderstood has been part of Nick’s life. Butch and his wife, Dianne, who also have a second son, Edward, who does not have the disorder, knew something was different about Nick when he was as young as 3 years old. Nick was not diagnosed with autism until he was 10. Being at what Butch describes as “the front end of the bubble” of autism, Nick and his parents had to advocate constantly so he could achieve his goals.

“In eighth grade, I felt like everyone loved me,” Nick said. “By senior year [in high school], it was hard.”

Nick, like some other high-functioning autistic children, could handle the academics and graduated from Cary High School in 2006. But what he has achieved beyond school sets him apart. A stint playing football at Cary High School under the tutelage of one of his “angels,” Coach Rich Fountain, helped him in his early years of high school.

“Nick has been fortunate that when things get tough, almost always someone would become that ‘angel’ who would help him overcome the obstacles his disorder presented,” his father said.

Hard work and helpful hands facilitated Nick’s achievement in Boy Scouts as a member of Troop 31 in Cary. He became an Eagle Scout in 2006 and was awarded the rank of Eagle at a Court of Honor in 2007. Coach Fountain and one of Nick’s other “angels,” Jerry McCormick of the Cary Police Department, were in attendance. Not only did Nick earn more than the minimum number of badges required to become an Eagle Scout, but he swam in cold mountain waters at a summer camp to achieve his swimming merit badge.

Eager to give back, Nick chose Camp Royall for people with autism located in Pittsboro to be the recipient of his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project. Nick led a group of Scouts and adults in constructing a platform where campers could observe the sun rising and the stars at night. While Butch lists his son’s achievements, it’s clear what an impact the father has made on the son.

Butch sees himself as an autism activist on a small scale, attending meetings of local autism groups like We Belong, Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication-handicapped Children, and the Wake County Autism Society. Butch, who inspired the Town of Cary to pass a proclamation to make April Autism Awareness Month, wants to help bring awareness to autism and more specifically, to help his child succeed in the world.

Nick is proud of his accomplishments but remains driven to succeed. He plans to attend Wake Tech at some point, get a better semiannual review at Trader Joe’s so he can work the register, and whip his muscles, languishing a bit since high school football, back into shape. He has worked up to 70 sit-ups and push-ups since January and plans to add weights to his every-other-day routine at the Cary YMCA.

Butch said Nick has about 22 goals written down so he can work toward them. Currently, Nick lives at home. But someday in the not-too-distant future, he may be living on his own.

“I’ve got a whole list of things I want to accomplish,” Nick said. “And we’re making progress,” his father added.