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Communication

Any decisions about schooling require both parents and teachers to have adequate access to the other perspective on the multiples

"I was teaching one of identical twin girls in year 1 as the policy of the school was to separate them. I and the other teacher felt things were going OK. What we did not know was that the girls were having quite devastating nightmares that were having such an impact at home. When they were put back together, there were no more problems at home-but a problem for the teacher in identifying each twin!"

The lack of parent-teacher communication goes further than specific instances of what happens at home or at school. Each may even be unaware of what help the children are getting. In the Australian Twins in School Survey, many parents did not know their twins were getting extra reading assistance at school. Conversely many teachers did not know the children were getting extra help outside school, especially for speech and language difficulties.

The checklist introduced later is designed to improve the sharing of information and hence to make the most-informed decision about what is best for multiples both as individuals and as multiples.