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Home › Articles › Multiples › Unspoken Language

Unspoken Language

Explaining the Secrets of Twin Communication

By Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon

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Babies begin communicating long before they can speak. It is important that parents recognize and interpret these gestures correctly. For example, around 12 months, babies point at objects they want.

A few months later, toddlers also use pointing to comment on objects. So an 18-month-old might point at a dog, not because she wants to approach the dog, but because she wants to see what your reaction to it is. Parents should learn to interpret these signals correctly so that their child becomes a confident communicator.

Hand gestures continue to develop throughout childhood. Young children often express knowledge in gesture that they cannot yet articulate in speech. For example, a 4-year-old trying to tell you what happened when he went to the doctor may not know the word for stethoscope, so instead, he acts out what the doctor did with it, and you see what he means.

If your child is telling you something, it is incredibly important to look at their actions as well as listen to what they say. This is especially true when language skills are limited. Sensitivity to and encouragement of nonverbal signals when communicating with twins is therefore critical.

Baby Sign Language
From around 12 months, babies can be taught gesture signs, like flapping their arms to stand for "bird" or tapping their head for "hat." Using gestures helps infants make their needs known and reduces the likelihood that their attempts to communicate will end in frustration. There is even some evidence that children taught signs during infancy have higher IQs when they begin primary school.

You can easily make up your own signs to teach your baby. Try and make them quite concrete representations of what they stand for, and make sure that you tell other people caring for your infant what they mean.

Signing will allow you to converse with your young child in ways that simply wouldn't happen otherwise. For example, when my own son, Dylan, was 15 months old, we were walking through a building on my campus when he made the sign for "dog." I hadn't seen a dog and thought it very unlikely that there would be one in the building and said as much. However, as we turned the corner, I saw, disappearing into the distance, someone with a guide dog. "Yes, there is a doggie. Well done," I said. Dylan was very pleased with himself. We had shared an experience about something that would have gone unnoticed to me if Dylan had not pointed it out.

Baby Face

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