Hello, Stranger
My Life on the Autism Spectrum
About the Book
Barbara Moran has never known how to be good.
As a child, she made strange noises, fidgeted constantly, and licked her lips until they cracked. She had “upsets” that embarrassed and frustrated her family. Worse still, she developed friendships with inanimate objects—everything from roller skates to tables—and became obsessed with images of cathedrals.
She was institutionalized, analyzed, and marginalized, cast aside as not trying hard enough to fit in.
But after almost forty years, Barbara was given an answer for her inability to be like, and to connect with, other people: autism.
Hello, Stranger is the story of a misunderstood life that serves as an eye-opening call for compassion. Bracingly honest, Barbara describes the profound loneliness of being abandoned and judged while also expressing her deep yearning simply to be loved and to give love.
Hello, Stranger is a challenge to every reader to see the beauty and the humanity present in every individual.
Endorsements and Reviews
“…insights from a time when a young person with autism grew up in a world where nobody understood them!”
“The thoughts running through an autistic mind, unreachable to many doctors and family members, are portrayed here without judgement, fear, or self-consciousness.
Moran’s language perfectly conveys the emotions, tics, and relationship needs she struggled to communicate and opens up the potential for further dialogue on the ever-changing treatment of autistic children and young adults today. … A perspective rarely explored in literature.”
“There’s much hope in (Barbara) Moran sharing her story and helping others improve their understanding of autism and their relationships with people who are on the autism spectrum. … Moran’s story is a must-have for public libraries.”
“Remarkably detailed, stunningly honest, and, in the end, deeply moving. A unique look into the heart and mind of someone who never fit in.”
“An uncommon soul navigating the pain and triumph of self-discovery.”
“As sweet and honest and painful and true and illuminating as any personal story you will ever read.”
“A testament to neurodiversity and a call to acceptance.”
In The News
Topeka Woman Describes Life with Autism (KSNT-TV)
How an Autism Diagnosis as an Adult Can Change Everything (NextAvenue.org)
Book Review (Chick Lit Central)
Q&A with Barbara Moran (Women Writers, Women’s Books)
Interview with co-authors Barbara Moran and Karl Williams (Foreword Reviews)
Topeka Woman Pens Book Describing Her Life with Autism (Topeka Capital-Journal)
About the Authors
Barbara Moran is a graphic artist from Topeka, Kansas, who was not diagnosed with autism until she was in her early 40s. She has spoken at autism conferences, and her artwork has been exhibited by Visionaries + Voices, at Bryn Mawr’s annual Art Ability show, and at the MIND Institute at the University of California-Davis. Barbara’s art often focuses on personified objects such as locomotives, stoplights, and cathedrals. Barbara shares her home with her companion of forty years, Rooney, a 1934 Monitor Top GE refrigerator.
Karl Williams has published two books with leaders in the self-advocacy movement (the civil rights struggle of people with intellectual disabilities); his play, based on one of these, premiered in San Diego. Williams’ songs have aired on NBC, Fox, public television, cable, Sirius, and on German TV, as well as on radio stations around the world.
Ordering Information for Bookstores and Libraries
Hello, Stranger: My Life on the Autism Spectrum
$18.95 ISBN 978-0-9997422-5-9 (paperback)
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / People with Disabilities
FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Autism Spectrum Disorders
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
Please call 937-483-4204 for special pricing and shipping information for bulk orders.
Hello, Stranger is distributed by Independent Publishers Group.
