My 2.4 yo son has some serious speech delays and it's become obvious his understanding of language is delayed also. I've worried about his speech for about 5 months now and just recently come to realize about the language. In addition to that, he's had mind boggling tantrums daily (with some days off, most days with at least a few) since last May. I mentioned all this to his paed (we're in CH, so he has a paed) at his 2 year check, she checked his ears visually, we came up with a plan and I went on my way.
Yesterday I took him back in and asked for a hearing test. She looked in his ears and mentioned it didn't look like glue ear, but got out her tympanometer to do the test. Lo and behold, one of his ears is quite off. So we're off to the ENT guy in a week or two. (She's a great doctor, btw - if I had asked for a hearing test at his 2 year check she would have done one.)
I'm very happy about this-- it's back in my comfort zone of "easily fixable medical conditions". Since there's been discussion about speech, etc, recently, I just thought I'd post my experience and encourage anyone who's looking at reasons her child is behind to try a hearing test.
As for the tantrums, I've got this feeling that when bright kids can't communicate, they get easily frustrated and lash out... (Hey! I can see you, y'know, rolling your eyes and muttering, "No sh*t, Sherlock".)