i know this sounds mad that i am saying this, DS is an adult but - but DS has aspergers, dyslexia and dyspraxia. He is at university full time, studing computer science but has a small part time job. This is now a massive problem and its causing him much anxiety and upset, but he cant afford to tell his boss to stick it.
DS is just 20, but due to his disability he acts much younger, is easily intimidated and never stands up for himself. He is actually quite vulnerable.
The job is for a local guy who is an internet marketer.
When DS started, it was just a few bits of programming for pin money. He didnt pay him anything like minimum wage. DS has no contract.
DS is a very talented programmer, and the guy he worked for began to up the ante - asking more and more of him, but never increasing the pittance of a wage he paid.
After 18 months of this DS asked if he would pay him min wage - he was paying him £250 per month, to get to min wage, he had to pay him £100 more 
taking his wage now to £350 a month. He works 18 hours a week for this, but often actually works more as he does quite a lot from home.
His boss came to my house and said he would not put DS under pressure and that he knew his uni work had to come first.
He has not kept to that. He has gradually increased and increased the pressure and workload, even asking DS to manage a team of programmers based in India on various projects. DS could not do that, and felt a failure until they took it off him, he has told me that the indian programmers do things differently and it doesnt fit with his coding, so he has to go through it all and change it etc etc....but his boss doesnt seem to understand this.
DS has just rung me in a massive state of anxiety because his boss and his daughter are badgering him and threatening him becuase they want something completed to sell it, (this project was DS idea incidently) they are emailing him at college, saying they have "had enough" and asking him if this is "too taxing" for him.
DS says this was meant to be a practice version so there will be mistakes in it, but he says he can fix them. He has asked his bosses daughter to run it and give him feedback - but they seem annoyed that it has some bugs and issues that he needs to fix. He clams up when they get angry and cant explain himself or defend his position.
i am sat on my hands, resisting the urge to send an email on DS behalf.
DS has not told them of his disability for fear they would let him go. He has only just told me that.
When DS gets home after uni tonight, we need to compose an email to his boss, what is the best way to go about this? Should i step in now and let the email come from me?
or is it best if it appears to come from DS himself?
i am so fed up of them using him like this. They are paying an college kid, with no prior job experience, he isnt a professional programmer, and they are paying him peanuts, and expecting perfection. I also think that DS now needs to tell them that he has these disabilities and that they are making him very anxious.
This was meant to be a little part time pin money programming job, and its morphed into something ridiculous. I really feel i need to step in.
Should i?