Joanna Fortune: Are delayed language and social skills common in young twins?

Advice includes — when talking with them, make a point of calling each child’s name and waiting for that child to look at you before you speak

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I have young twins, and I am worried that they are showing delayed language and social skills. Someone told me this is common with twins. Is this true?

There are many and varied generalisations made about twins which have little to no clinical or scientific basis. That said, communication skills can be areas where we see mild-moderate delays in twins. Such delays are usually apparent by age two. While many multiple siblings will show no sign of a delay, occasionally multiple-birth children will be slower to develop language.