Is it true?

I went to a twin mommy thing last month and there was a developmental lady there and she said twins are very slow to talk and often have speech problems.

What are your experiences/advice/suggestions?

TIA

 

I can only speak for us, but we have had no speech delays here. DS has developed a little bit slower than DD, but I think that has more to do with gender/personality issues than with them being twins.

 

I've heard this too - and often people tell me that my girls are doing well "for twins." (annoying, huh?)
Anywho - We were told to just talk to them a lot in complete sentences (no baby talk) and also to read a ton to them every day to help.

I feel like my girls have been pretty quick in the whole verbal department. I'm not sure if they'll have any speech problems as they articulate more, but mine are speaking in (almost) complete sentences and I feel like that's awesome!

 

I've heard this too, even from my pedi, and I have to say I find it annoying. Why should twins be expected to have a delay in speech? I personally think this is false. However, I have heard of twins who develop a special "twin language" that only the twins understand, and in this situation I can see how "regular" language would be delayed. My DS is currently in speech therapy for expressive language delay and my pedi kept dismissing my concerns at first when he wasn't talking...she gave me this line about twins being slow to talk. I didn't believe her and got him tested, and now he's getting the help he needs; and I don't think his speech delay is due to him being a twin. Sorry if I'm going off here, but that line really bothers me.

thea

 

From my experience, I think it's true. It also doesn't help that we're raising the twins bilingual (German/English), which also tends to delay speech. However, they have really caught up in the last 6 months (they're almost 3 now) and suddenly talk in sentences, use correct grammar, rarely mispronounce words. They never had any speech therapy. Our ped, BTW, himself father of b/g twins, had always told us not to worry (but it's hard not to!)

I think twins don't have to develop their language skills as quickly as singletons because they have their twin, someone who understands them perfectly (even if we adults don't).

DeLana

 

My girls have had no delays in their speech. Katelyn is ahead and Jessica is right on target. My brother-in-law's ID twin girls had some minor delays. Our ped is always surprised at how well the girls are doing for twins, too.

 

I have one with an expressive language delay, but I don't think it has anything to do with him being a twin. I think the idea of twins talking late, had to do more with the fact that many twins are born early, and as a result of premature births, have developmental delays, speech included.

 

I heard this too. But am glad to see that it is not true.

 

Mine started talking late (25 and 27 months). Of course, my second son (a singleton) also started talking late, at around 22 months. My dad started talking between 2 and 2.5 (a singleton, and a first child; first children are often quicker to talk because no one can talk for them). My maternal uncle was 2.5 (also a first child). Late talking runs in my family on both sides. I had one very early talker (DS1, 8 mos), and the rest were all late.

However, once they started, they exploded and caught up incredibly quickly and soon were advanced.

So I think twins are just like other kids. Some are average, some talk late, some talk early.

 

They can, but it is not a given. My girls are excelling in the area of speech. I remember at their 15 month appointment the pedi asking me how many words they had and when I told him 20 and 25, he was shocked. He said that's great, especially for twins, he only expected 3-5 words at 15 months.

Now mine do have their own little "language" they have discussions in sometimes, we have no idea what they are talking about, but they definitely understand each other. But this hasn't affected their language at all.

 

I've heard this, too, though it's always framed as "twins are more likely to have delays" not that they are guaranteed to. No delays here. My girls were 11 weeks early on top of being twins and they are about 6-12 months ahead of their age, verbally, and have been since about 18 months.

 

Really?? Wow, I didn't realize other people thought this. I agree with it in our situation. My boys started talking late, and I do think it had to do with them being twins. They said next to nothing until about a month before their 2nd birthday. Then they had a massive speech explosion - sentences and everything, coming all at once. Up until then, they were home during the day with my husband, but right around that time, they started going to daycare a few days a week. I really think being home with exposure only to each other kept them from talking sooner. They didn't really NEED to talk. But once they went to daycare and started hearing the other kids talk, it got them going. This is my theory anyway

I think if they had an older sibling talking at home, maybe they would have talked sooner. But since their twin brother wasn't saying anything, why bother?

Michelle

 

Our b/g twins have a speech delay. They are 21 months old and receiving EI therapy. They say only a few words each, some unrecognizable.

I have a friend with twin boys that also had a delay. Don't know how much is attributed to being twins or would they have had it anyway. ?

 

I've never heard that.. no delays here.

 

I haven't experienced any delays either, although my kiddos are still young, they have developed speech right on track. I have a friend who has a singleton who always says that my kids are doing good "for twins". Which is really annoying. I think people are jealous

 

No delays here. DD definitely talks more/better than DS though, but that is more of a girl/boy thing.

 

We're at 18 months and have yet to say ma-ma or da-da. They have some consistent sounds they make for when they want to give me something "da-gi" or "da-gu" but that's about it. Right now they're in speech therapy once a week (just started! yay!). They have twin cousins who were also very delayed in the speech department.

 

No speech delays here ( other delays)....one DD did not ever talk 'baby talk' or babble so we were watching her since she had no words at 15 months, but once she started talking about 18 mon she did not stop!!!She is now very advanced in speech (per EI) and my other DD is also ahead a bit (she babbled). It had nothing to do with being twins.

But as PP said- preemies tend to have more delays and twins are more often preemie than singles.....so people assume most twins (esp preemies ) will be delayed in speech.

Lots of factors play in to speech - gender, environment, physical development ( hearing, motor muscle control, fine motor development) prematurity, languagues (bilingual), siblings, etc.....

 

That is a heck of a generalization. Twins may be slower to talk for a variety of reasons (prematurity being a big one), but there's no reason to think it's going to happen with your kids.

One of my DDs is ahead of average for speaking and the other is behind. I don't think it has anything to do with them being twins (especially because they're been in daycare their whole lives, so it's not like they are just talking to each other all day). It's just random variation.

 

Mine are both behind in expressive language. DS has a few words, but DD doesn't have any. They are in EI.

 

I didn't read all of the replies, but I don't think this is a true statement, or an accurate one about twins. I do agree that twins can develope their own language, but who wouldn't if there was someone else with you just about 24/7 who made the same sounds as you did? I teach Kindergarten; last year we had 7 sets of twins, this year we have 9 sets in the Kinder grade. None are in need of speech services.

 

My boys have not had any speech delays either although their Pedi told me from the get go not to worry if they did because it is common with twins, however, it's not the case with ours. They didn't say that much until their second bday in December and then that was it they talk, talk, talk.

 

well I have to agree - DD is so far ahead in speech that even the ST that comes for DS is impressed - the child isn't even 2 and can say elephant (and has since Christmas)...DS on the other hand tested 24 mos with receptive language and 14 mos for expressive (at 20 mos) so he is receiving ST and making little steps toward speaking better....

the EI Evaluator as well as the ST has said that twins (especially boys) tend to have more of an expressive language delay due to several factors - gender, often times prematurity, and if there are older sibs in the house (which we don't have) can tend to speak for them...

 

Mine are perfectly on target, perhaps even ahead, for speech. They did start a little late, around 18 months, and then we had a language explosion. I have never noticed any kind of twin language or anything like that.

 

I absolutely think my boys have some delay. I took them to an ENT, though, and it turned out they both had major hearing loss because of consistent fluid in their ears. In the 5 weeks since they got tubes...they have improved A LOT. Longer sentences, better repetition, etc. I may still have them evaluated, but so far I don't think their problems were twin-related.

That said, they really do, and always have had, a language of their own. It cracks me up that they can speak a ton and never really say words, but always know what each other is saying.

 

It's not true for my twins. They were slow in the gross motor skill area, but they were also 6 weeks early. They just turned 2 about a month ago and have a couple hundred words each and speak regularly in 4-5 word phrases and short sentences. They seem to be a little bit ahead of their playmates who are about the same age.

 

At a talk I went to before the girls were born - specially for parenting multiples - I remember them saying something similar. Not that twins ALWAYS had delays, just that they were more likely to have delays than singletons. They listed several reasons, including factors associated with prematurity as pp have mentioned.

Other reasons were: when you talk to a baby there's a lot of eye contact going on and the baby scans your face closely. This one-to-one time has been found to be very important for later language development. If you're talking to twin babies, firstly they get less face to face time (less than half supposedly) and secondly, there's less eye contact (they've found that when a twin mum talks to her children she looks between them - evidently). Also they tend to get less individual reading time etc etc. All these may affect speech development.

The other things I remember them saying was that twins often compound one another's mistakes. Children usually learn to speak by hearing people who speak a bit better than them and who also gently correct their mistakes ('I go-ed' 'yes you went my darling' etc). Although twins obviously have adults around them, they also learn mistakes from one another. My two definitely influence one another in what they say and how they say it (bish instead of fish etc). And they also understand one another much better than I can understand them.

I know there were other things they said in this talk, but those old pregnancy hormones and subsequent sleepless nights have erased them!
lisa

 

So, it seems like we are all over the place!!
Some toddlers with full blown vocabularies, way ahead of the curve, and late talkers with only a couple words - a pretty big spread! Just goes to show not every child (or twin) is the same.