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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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Twins' unique situation influences the way they learn to communicate. For example, there are two children of the same age living together. The pair is typically seen as being sufficient company for one another and less in need of communication with other people. This can mean that parents spend less time interacting with them.

In addition, the children are together almost all the time. It is therefore not surprising that twins are exceptionally precocious and sensitive to one another's attempts to communicate – particularly of their twin's body language.

Many people believe there is a special telepathic link between twins, particularly if they are identical. At least some of the evidence for such a link can be explained in terms of two phenomena.

First, as already mentioned, twins seem to be very good at reading the nonverbal behaviors of their co-twin. This means that they will often respond to one another more quickly or more appropriately than other people around. In this sense, the "telepathy" boils down to simply being more in tune with their twin than other people are.

Second, you may notice that your twins often behave in similar ways almost simultaneously. A high level of imitation is prevalent in identical twins although more rare in non-identical pairs. Sometimes this mimicry can be confused with genetic similarity resulting in behavioral similarities. However, close scrutiny of videotapes of twins shows that more often than not one child does the action first (for example, a particular facial expression). The other twin observes (often with a brief glance, which goes unnoticed by those around them) and then copies.

Parents must look at what their babies and toddlers do. Sensitively responding to and using nonverbal cues will provide you and your children with rich communication, especially if they are twins.


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