Tom Kenny reflects on saying SpongeBob SquarePants is autistic: ‘I never meant for it to go public’

https://ew.com/tom-kenny-reflects-on-saying-spongebob-squarepants-is-autistic-8684643

13 comments

  1. > “I’m not a medical doctor and SpongeBob is imaginary, an imaginary character, so I’m not really qualified to speak,” Kenny told EW. “But yeah, a young person with autism who is on the spectrum said to me — basically he was asking me, ‘I’m like this, is SpongeBob like me?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, he is. SpongeBob’s a lot like you. You guys are the same and you’re both awesome.'”

  2. I hope he doesn’t get flack for saying it. When I read the original story, it seemed to me like he was saying it as a compliment to both parties (Spongebob and people with autism).

  3. Making a kid feel better about themself is somehow a controversy

  4. As someone with autism, I’ve been saying this for years.

  5. Did anyone, ANYONE, not already know he was on the spectrum?

  6. I’m autistic and I was very happy to hear Tom say this. We all knew it, but hearing it from Tom was awesome. I hope he doesn’t get pushback, the larger autistic community from what I’ve seen seems to be loving this, too.

  7. He obviously meant nothing but the best by it. People can twist it to make it seem like he’s being ableist, but he was just trying to make a kid feel special. And it’s honestly very wholesome.

  10. I hope all the absolutely unhinged armchair psychologists and psychiatrists on Reddit who proclaimed “oh of course sponge is autistic, look at x-y-z behavior, I’ve always known, it’s obvious,” feel absolutely dumb right now

  11. It’s a open and shut HIPAA violation that’s for sure

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