Vehicle speed sensor & shifting issues

I have a 2000 Prerunner with the 2.7 4 cyl with automatic trans. Two days ago I was about a half mile from my house stopped at a red light, and when I tried to take off, the truck wouldn't shift out of first. I managed to crawl my way into my driveway, and decided to take it around the block to see what was up. I tried shifting manually (from L to 2 to D) and still wouldn't shift. Kicks into gear and into reverse from Park just fine. Just couldn't get it to shift on the go. As I pull back into my driveway, I notice my speedometer going crazy. Jumping around like it was posessed or something. So I pull back out the driveway to check this out, and take off. The truck shifted just fine. No problems with shifting at all, but now the speedometer and odometer are dead. My guess was the vehicle speed sensor. Finally, last night CEL came on. Went to Autozone and had the codes read. Computer confirmed VSS. Two questions I have:
1. Would a problem with this sensor have something to do with the truck not shifting? (It hasn't had a shifting issue since the initial problem. Never slipped, never struggled in any way to shift except for that one instance.) I'm guessing maybe that sensor has something to do with telling the tranny to shift. Or am I totally wrong? Can't find much info on that in the Haynes or here...
2. Before I drop $250 on a new sensor, are there any other things to check? Fuse? Connections? I'd hate to drop that cash on this part and it not be the sensor...I'm a school teacher...spare cash is rare.
Thanks!

 

Man you went 7 years without an answer. Hope you got it somewhere haha