SpongeBob SquarePants Is 'Autistic,' Says Voice Actor Tom Kenny: 'That’s His Superpower'

[Spongey34]

“SpongeBob's kind of on the spectrum too as a character,” he said. "It was the first time I’d ever been asked this question — a person who was obviously on the spectrum came up to me and said, ‘I have a question for you, Tom Kenny. Is SpongeBob autistic?’”

He recalled answering, “‘Of course!’” Then, he continued, “I said, ‘You know what? That's his superpower, the same way that’s your superpower.’”

The crowd cheered as Kenny offered this explanation, gathering support for his answer.

What a cool moment.

SpongeBob SquarePants Is 'Autistic,' Says Voice Actor Tom Kenny: 'That’s His Superpower'

Tom Kenny, who voices SpongeBob SquarePants in the hit animated series, confirmed the beloved character is 'autistic.' He recalled a time a child asked and without hesitation, he answered, 'Of course!'

people.com

 

[Hawky Super Star]

On this subject, I just saw this comment in the shoutbox:

I honestly feel like SpongeBob is a way more accurate autistic character than the stereotypical stoic genius autistic character.

A while back, I saw a video essay about Sia's awful movie from a few years ago, and at one point, it features a clip of Dakota Fanning talking about Wendy, the autistic lead character she played in Please Stand By. I think she put into words what I would say in response to the above better than I could:

I think what I learned about autism, first and foremost, was that every person's experience with autism is different. I think that a big saying in the autism community is that, if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism. That everyone's struggles and challenges are individual and specific, and that's everyone's different. So, as an actor, I felt a lot of freedom to create Wendy, and that I didn't have to... I think there are certain sort of stereotypes that we hear about autism, and I learned very quickly from meeting people, who either were parents of autistic children, or meeting people with autism, that those sort of stereotypes don't really exist. So, I felt I didn't want to further the stereotypes, and I wanted to really portray her as I would portray any other young woman.

More relevant to Tom Kenny here is the example the video brings up right after this: Brent Spiner, about playing his most famous role of Data in Star Trek TNG, and how the character became a sort of unintentional autistic icon:

I had no idea, while we were doing the series, that the character was speaking to so many young people particularly at that time, who were struggling with emotion and expression. I'm glad that I didn't know about it too much at the time, because I think I would've pushed the writers to address it more head-on, and it could've ruined the entire thing.

I imagine Tom (and by extension, Stephen and the other writers) started out this way as well. Autism wasn't nearly as widely understood back when SB was first created, so I really think the character coming out the way he did was a sort of happy accident, just like Data. Judging from the article's recap of Tom's past comments on the subject, though, it looks like he's thought about the idea for quite a while. Maybe he's even been subconsciously incorporating it into his performance the whole time.

Also, without Stephen around to comment on it, I think this is as solid of a confirmation you'll ever get!

 

[NOTSpongeblobmaster]

Hearing this and also hearing about that awful uk article makes me feel proud or weird to have autism

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

I have what's called "Asperger's Syndrome," which is located on the higher end of the spectrum.
Many people with Asperger's are often intelligent, yet have some of the emotional baggage that comes with traditional autism.
I could picture SpongeBob having something that's more along the lines of Asperger's...

 

[ScumBob]

I could have sworn he's said this before like 12 years ago with no fanfare

 

[Hugs4Softie]

It's always been a little head-canon of mine that SpongeBob was either autistic or had ADHD. Glad to see it's confirmed now...

 

[SuperSponge1234]

Tbh I wasnt surprised not tryna be rude but SpongeBob clearly had some had of autism its cool if he revealed and as the dude who has slight adhd its kinda easy to tell based on irl experience. its cool fact tho IMO that tom kenny said that

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

I guess I could see SpongeBob as a mix between Ed from Good Burger and Rain Man...

 

[FlabbleBabbles]

SpongeBob's confirmed super powers:
*Cloning
*Shapeshifting
*Indestructability
*Aerodynamics
*Absorbancy
*Reproducing by Budding
*Autism