My younger daughter has profound Apraxia and is non verbal. She uses Prologue2go on her ipad. She is easily able to go into a resturant and order what she wants including how she wants her eggs. The Prologue2go app has two choices one that is just that program and the other has additional products that can also be purchased seperately as well.
One of the other products that as she moves to a more advanced use of language (due to an instance of the school district speech aid we did not start using Prologue2go as early as I would have liked so she got behind not only in her expressive communication but in her receptive as well so she is behind where she should be though she is rapidly catching up) is prologue4text which is designed for longer conversations.
There are other Alternative and Assistive Communication apps on the market including free ones that can be downloaded on an android cell phone. From experience we have found the Prologue2go the easiest to use and the most expansive.
Before getting the Prologue2go for my daughter we did use a Picture Exchange system which involves having sheets of words by subjects such as foods, places to go, things to do and then she would take and put a sentence together on a hook and loop communication strip which was then taken off and handed to the person she wanted to communicate with. (I will see if I can find a photo on one of my flash drives and post what our system looked like because I am sure I posted on to facebook after I got done making it-note boughten picture exchange systems are expensive especially for what you get).
This was very limiting as she could say I want pancakes, eggs, and sausage using one symbol that said I want one that said pancakes, one that said eggs, and one that said sausage. She could not specify that she wanted her eggs fried and that she wanted links for her sausage. With Prologue2go she has been able to learn how to be specific on what she wants and how she wants food that there is a choice on preparation prepared.
She carries her ipad in her Minnie Mouse backpack so that it is handy when she needs it to communicate or just have some playtime or we do her school work on the ipad as well. We have a shared account and have the Prologue2go downloaded on her sister's ipad along with the ipad that is supposed to be mine but keeps getting swipped when a certain little girl's goes dead. (Oh well I prefer to use the laptop anyways and am fine using my phone for when I am out and about so really only was using the ipad for less than 5% of all my computing at most).
When we are out and about such as at our fair where the kids have competitions that they are in and we have some very long days we take what we call a media bag which is a miniture backpack that contains a couple of power banks that can charge two devices at a time (we actually have 3 of these 2 of them are 1400 and one is a 1200), an off brand cord for the ipads and an off brand cord for the android phones, along with both a minture handgrip/tripod and an adapter for the phone, and a slightly larger tripod, and my simple point and shoot camera along with the ipad that is technically mine. (I make her exchange hers with me if hers runs out of battery and I am able to charge it along with my phone if necessary).
If we are where we can not travel home at night the backup flash drives in a protective case gets put in as well as the cord for the camera and mouse for the laptop. The laptop goes in a seperate soft case just for that and can be placed in a regularsize backpack that we buy in the sporting goods department. While often there are the same exact brands sold in back to school I have found that going to sporting goods gets me a better product due to the double line of stitching and refinforced stitching in high stress areas like those zippers or the straps. Yes it is a bit more money but I would rather pay $25-30 more and have it last 10-12 plus years than replacing that backpack yearly or even every term like I did when I was in university and had some terms with lots of books and a class schedule that did not allow me time to return to my dorm room or later my vehicle to get the next one.
We did temporarily use a dynavox maestro with my daughter which gave more options than the picture exchange system did but not as much as the prologue2go. The biggest problem with this device which is not only no longer being manufactured but is no longer even being supported for repairs besides the cost and the fact that you have to pay an unlock fee to be able to use any internet programs on it including downloading a menu (technically it is considered a medical device and some insurance will not allow it if it has internet on it when purchased so the unlock is done once it is prescriped and paid for including any co pays on behave of the patient or their family) is it is extremely bulky and cumbersome to use. It does not fit in a standard daypack even one designed for hiking and is best designed for someone with limited mobility who would need something mounted to a location most often a wheelchair.
Insurance does not cover an ipad though there are some advocacy groups that do and there are even more that will cover the cost of the prologue2go app. Insurance however will cover devices such as a dynavox model and there are other companies out there that is just the one I am most familiar with personally. This also includes getting insurance in case of loss or damage, no insurance for the ipad though we were able to have the dynavox insured as a hearing aid rider on our homeowners insurance policy.
My advice is to talk with a speech therapist and see what they would recommend, often they might have a couple of different options on devices to let your child try in a session to see which one works the best, if not if you happen to already own an ipad you can either just purchase the prologue2go program.
You can find plethera of videos on youtube explaining how to set things up, how different things work including how to select your "voice" and what level of communicator to choose along with how many choices to have on a page which ranges from a small number either 4x4 or 9x9 up to a 32x32 which will vary based on both how much communication can be handled by the individual as well as their vision (I have a good friend who is a published author and song writer who due to being legally blind would only be able to use a 4x4 grid at best even though communication ability would allow for the use of a 32x32 or larger.