My daughter has verbal apraxia as well. She goes to Children's House at Baylor in Allen for therapy, and we use the Kauffman Sign & Say kit as well as the PROMPT method for speech therapy. I supplement with sign language (ASL). How fluent is your son with signing? My daughter has only recently attempted to speak the sounds she cannot re-create, so she gets an A+ for effort even when she isn't intelligible. She can do about 1/2 the consonants and a variety of v+v and v+c combinations, but is just starting to learn 2-word speech, such as "My Daddy", etc. It only works with phrases and words she knows really well. She also just learned how to say her name this last week, and I'm still beaming with pride, even though the first consonant usually gets swallowed.
I am 100% certain that unless a speech pathologist has training with apraxia, they will be of NO USE to a child diagnosed with this disorder (no offense to the SP's out there!). Apraxia is such a specific disorder that affects each child differently, there is no way a speech therapist could just sweep in and use a general "articulation improvement" plan on a child with apraxia. They also need to know the difference between oral motor apraxia and verbal apraxia, because even though symptoms may overlap, each are dealt with very differently.
But I'm sure you must know all this! I am the only person I know whose child has apraxia, aside from one other mom on the Mamasource board with whom I've tried to meet up but haven't succeeded with yet.
I would LOVE to talk to you, as we are going to be starting the PALS and PPCD programs in McKinney this coming school year, and I'm already quite pessimistic about what they can offer besides general speech therapy and socialization for my daughter.
Who diagnosed your son? And how long was it between your first attempt to get him help and this diagnosis? Also, was this the first diagnosis, or did they misdiagnose him? Our daughter was too young to be formally diagnosed until just a few months ago, but all my research and all her speech therapists agreed that her speech patterns pointed toward apraxia and nothing else. Now that we know what it is, we can address it much more successfully than if it were some general speech disorder.
I totally feel for you!!!! Apraxia is a lifelong condition (like dyslexia) that will require ongoing effort and diligence. I'm set for the long haul. I just wish I knew another mom who was in the same boat as I am... Sounds like you might be that mom.
Email me directly (i.e. send a private note) if you'd like to talk more. At this point, I'm ready to just meet and talk and not drag things out, that's how alone I feel about this one thing! Sure, I have mom friends and playmates for my daughter, but I've been trying for MONTHS to find a mom who is local and not online somewhere far away...
Whatever you decide, I'll be around if you want to talk again, and don't give up... You are NOT the only ones out there, I promise!!!!!
p.s. I am going to start my own support group in the near future (i.e. 6-12 months) if it turns out to be the only way to bring others like us out of the woodwork.