I saw this myself and was saddened by the whole situation. I can see both sides though. Maybe if they had been more trained in children with disabilities it would have kept the situation to a minimal. For example, allowing the mother to take a few things out of the bag she had to put in the overhead. However, at the point where the child was on the floor upset and uncontrollable, I don't think the airline had any choice but to turn the plane around.

I hope AA works with the mother to resolve this in the end. We had a serious issue with my husband's wheelchair (it was damaged beyond repair) and they were very accomodating to us.