Hi there Sydney and thanks for the great question. You’ve
actually raise two terrific issues we can explore here on the
One Sassy Doctor blog: one about comparing the development of
twins and the other about what a 20 month old’s traditional
speech and language development would be. Actually, many parents
of similar-aged siblings or twins wonder when there is variation
in developmental progress. As a mom of two sets of twins, I
totally understand that it’s nearly impossible not to compare &
worry when one twin progresses to a stage that the other hasn’t
yet hit. As with all children, we know as parents that it’s best
to try and refrain from comparisons. Here we’ll address why::
Developmental stages vary between children. In fact, the word
“normal” or “expected” developmental stage refers to a wide
range of months; with the outliers (children who do not progress
until well after an age range that depends on the specific task)
reflecting the need for early interventional assessments.
Factors such as prematurity