
It came after a fan of the Nickelodeon show approached the voice actor a question at Motor City Comic Con in McAllen, Texas.
“SpongeBob’s kind of on the spectrum too as a character,” Kenny revealed in a video shared on X on Tuesday by user @DominoDeerGirl.
“This last con that I did in McAllen, TX – it was the first time I’d ever been asked this question,” the 62-year-old actor explained.
“A person who was obviously on the spectrum came up to me and said, ‘I have a question for you, Tom Kenny.
“‘Is SpongeBob himself autistic?’”
“‘Of course!’ I said, ‘You know what? That’s his superpower, the same way that’s your superpower.’”
The actor who also voices SpongeBob’s friend Gary, received applause from audience members following his comments.
This support was echoed on social media by fans of the goofy sea sponge.
“No wonder I liked SpongeBob so much we got a CONNECTION,” one said in the comments to the video.
“It makes soooo much sense,” another wrote.
“I’m crying tears of joy! Tom is the GOAT!” a third said.
However, while other fans have said that they are happy to learn this detail about their favorite character, they wanted it confirmed by someone else.
“I’m glad Tom Kenny confirmed SpongeBob’s autism, but I would really like to have heard it from Stephen Hillenberg himself,” X user Hunter Jones wrote.
Hillenburg was the creator of the animated television series which began in 1999.
The animator and marine biologist died in California in 2018 after being diagnosed with ALS.
However, he had previously spoken out about the Krusty Krab fry cook’s sexuality when saying that the sea sponge is “romantic but almost asexual.”
Last year a post to a SpongeBob fan forum, known as Spongebuddy Mania, discussed a theory about the show’s characters regarding spectrum conditions.
“What if in reality, SpongeBob SquarePants was actually about neuro-typicals vs. neuro-divergents?” one fan said.
“This would explain why Autistic people love this show so much,” they added.”
Others called the suggestion “intriguing” and said they “halfway agree.”
Kenny previously spoke out about SpongeBob’s neurodivergency on a podcast in 2012.
“I don’t know what there is in that show that talks to kids that are on the autism spectrum, but more than other cartoons… because SpongeBob as a character is a little autistic,” he said on Marc Maron’s podcast WTF.
“Obsessed with his job, very hardworking, gets really really deep into something,” he continued.
The actor’s work on the animated series saw him scoop the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program in both 2018 and 2020.
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