YES.
If someone has an ASD, they have social communication difficulties even if they have strong verbal skills. These difficulties may include:
- initiating conversations
- staying with the conversation (turn taking)
- understanding sarcasm, humor, or other figurative language
- sharing enjoyment of activities
- understanding or using non-verbal gestures and facial expressions
- understanding abstract concepts
- understanding other people’s perspectives or intentions
- motor planning for clear speech production
If the person is still non-verbal, picture communication systems or voice output devices can be used to encourage interaction and communication development.