I realised today that I got all my social skills from compassionate people and teachers who sought to include me in things. And thus, the bulk of my succesful interactions tend to be looking around for ways to make people feel included... but if it weren't for those nice people and interactions, I think I would have remained a loner all my life with few ways of externally relating to others.
I highly recommend hanging around children's hospital nurses when they play with patients...they tend to have excellent social skills (within a restricted context).