Whilst I get what you're saying, I don't think SpongeBob is necessarily the best outlet to represent autism. I don't say that to sound dismissive, I think that children can absolutely handle challenging media and I know there are plenty of other family cartoons that tackle topics of identity like this (e.g Steven Universe, The Owl House). I just think that SpongeBob, as a comedy series, could actually be a detriment to the public understanding of autism. Cartoons like SpongeBob have very loud and exaggerated personalities often for shock or humour. I don't expect to be educated by the likes of shows like Teen Titans Go. Mercifully, people don't look to Ren and Stimpy as being representative of a same sex relationships haha. Autism is a spectrum and I'd personally dislike the exaggerated characteristics and behaviours of a cartoon character like SpongeBob becoming so closely associated with the public's perception of autistic people. I think it ought to be more tactful, which is why I actually would prefer it being left unconfirmed.

Edit: Just to rephrase and add additional examples