Hi Shannon - Firstly, sorry that happened to you. There's no excuse for rude or abusive comments, I quite agree.

Are you aware David is autistic? Again, I don't think that is an excuse, but it could be a reason for the misunderstanding in some respect as yet undertermined. Medium supposedly has a "diverse" ethos, which I think ought to be taken into consideration when dealing with the neurodiverse in complaints. I'm not necessarily saying it should lead to a different outcome (it sounds like a fairly indefensible remark) but I still struggle to imagine David making a comment like that in a straight-up way considering how kind he is normally is without there being other factors at play.

Still, none of that is on you, and I completely understand your perspective too. I also hate it when people use autism as an excuse for rudeness (and I'm sure David would feel the same way, incidentally). I've some experience of this as my own son is autistic, and he hates the idea that this would mean special treatment in a way that tolerates rudeness or hostile behaviour. I've been told I'm probably on the spectrum myself, though I've halted the assessment process as I don't really want the answer. To be honest, as I don't see what difference it will make.

Anyway, sorry for the long tangential answer, and again, I'm sorry this happened. :)