It sounds like the typical boy-meets-girl story: Jerry Newport and Mary Meinel meet, fall in love, marry, and work hard at sustaining their relationship.

Maybe they work a little harder than most married couples.

Both have Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism that makes it difficult to relate emotionally to other people.

Jerry and Mary Newport tell their story, with the help of co-author Johnny Dodd, in the joint autobiography "Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger's Love Story,"  published by Touchstone early this year. The paperback version will be released soon.

The couple will sign their book at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Barnes & Noble Booksellers and discuss it at 7 that evening at HACC, Lancaster Campus. Both events are free and open free to the public.

Their visit to the area is part of the One Book, One Community: Our Region Reads campaign. This year's book selection, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," by Mark Haddon, is a novel whose main character is autistic.

The Newports' book has received critical acclaim from the autism community. Stephen Shore, author of "Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences With Autism and Asperger Syndrome," said, "Through their struggles and triumphs, Jerry and Mary Newport show us all what it is to be human and how love truly can conquer all."

It also shows what happens in the lives of autistic adults. It's an area that has received little attention, since society's major focus has been on educating and socializing autistic children.

Publishers Weekly described the book as chronicling how Jerry drifted from one failed vocation to the next, including pot dealer, horse-race betting fanatic, bookstore cashier and elementary school librarian. Mary's  experiences included a cult marriage, abusive lovers and mental hospital stints.

"Both grapple with anxiety and despair before epiphanies: for Jerry, when he sees 'Rain Man'; for Mary, when her brother directs her to the Autistic Society," the review said.

They meet, in middle age, at a costume party for adult autistics. She came dressed as Mozart's younger brother; he, as a whale because he loved the movie "Free Willy." They connected over their pet birds and married a few months later, in 1995.

A feature story in the Los Angles times made them famous as "Mr. and Mrs. Autism." Their story also has been featured in People Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times and on "60 Minutes" (twice), and they've become advocates for those with autism.

Newport, 59, grew up in Islip, N.Y., raised by two teachers. He was second in his high-school class and earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from University of Michigan, where he was a member of a fraternity. He now works as a taxi driver and tax preparer.

Mrs. Newport, who is seven years younger than her husband, grew up in  Arizona. She is licensed in piano tuning, and rebuilding. She has been an extra in the "Star Trek" TV series and is now a peer counselor at the Guidance Center in Flagstaff, Ariz., where they live with their 16 pet birds.

More than a decade ago their lives were fodder for a film of the same title, starring Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell, but with a few details altered.

For more information go to the Web site www.jerrynewport.com.