I don't always know what's a part of my autism and what isn't, but I also get a "feel" of people right away, and can sense their emotions, kind of like I'm feeling them myself to a lesser degree. I can sense people's presence if they're a few feet away or closer. I usually dislike this feeling, so I generally go out of my way to keep my distance from people. I also really hate when I can feel someone but not see them, like if they're standing behind me.
I too am very good at "reading" animals and figuring out on my own how best to interact with them. Several times I've had an animal such as a cat walk up to me when I offer my hand to sniff, and start giving them scritches or whatever they seem to want, and then had someone come over and say they were going to tell me that the animal doesn't like to be pet, but I'm getting on fine with them, or I'll be petting an animal, and when someone else simply walks by, the animal shies away from them (it's always annoying when I've won an animal's trust and then someone else scares it away). I'm especially good with cats because that's what I'm most familiar with.
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Yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage. For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
-H. P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"