While I completely agree with all of the comments above, I will say that the AA reps she dealt with in New York could have given her some information about what was happening, at the very least. I'm quite sure that they could have located a Spanish-speaking employee at JFK with very little effort. They were not going to assist her in all of these activities, but they could have given her some idea of what they were giving her, what it was for, and what she was expected to do the following day.
Beyond that, I'll have to echo - OP, what were you thinking?
Cheers.
Gees, blame AA? I am sure there were regular travelers confused by the cancellation. Grandma did not know what to ask for the rep to tell her anything. I am sure if you were standing there the rep would have told you very little too. It is not AA's responsibility to help each passanger understand what is happening and get a person that speaks each individual language and ENSURE everyone knows each step to take to get to their destination. My 17 year old niece figured out DFW and got from LAS to TPA with no issues. She had a mobile phone and called me along the way while at DFW. I was not expecting AA to help her more than they would me, if I was not paying for it.
OP - only one to blame is you.