Originally Posted by
KARFA
If you do need to board with her your choices would appear to be:
1) request assistance at the airport if your mother's conditions warrant it
2) board with her in general boarding.
The usual expression is "those requiring extra time to board" when calling for pre-boarding. A lady looking to be elderly is likely to be admitted for pre-boarding on the basis that she *might* need extra time to board so I don't think there is any need for 1) or 2) in practical terms. It's not as if they would demand a proof that she'd need extra time to board or require her to have requested assistance.
If the gate agent rejects her, I'd consider him/her a bit insensitive because not everyone has immediately visible disability etc to require extra time, and I haven't come across many gate agents at all whom I'd classify as insensitive that way. They may be dragon-like guardians of priority boarding queues and may be manic baggage size enforcers but they tend to handle pre-boarders quite sensitively.