Again, "presence" may have a different significance for a person with autism. "Non verbal communication" is something that despite fifty years of study in psychology, i have never been able to understand. People simply cannot communicate with me "non-verbally," I am more likely to misunderstand the gestures and appearances and "body language" of a person than i am to "get it."

Dianne tells me i am always "ignoring" cues. such a simple question as "who is this i'm talking to?" can be a puzzle. I once failed to recognize my daughter when she walked into a room unexpectedly,

I get a lot of undeserved credit for being a faithful husband simply because i cannot tell when someone is "coming on" to me. Only twice have i felt "chemistry" between me and a person of the other sex. The second time was with Dianne, so i got that right. The first instance was a young woman who was just being a decent, friendly person and i totally misread her as being "romantic."

(Edit) Persons with autism may just find the physical presence of others to be confusing "noise" which impedes more than facilitates understanding.