Robert F. Kennedy Jr. started developing symptoms of the condition in 1996. Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological condition that causes certain muscles in the “voice box,” or larynx, to spasm, often making the voice sound raspy, strained or breathy.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a disorder called spasmodic dysphonia that makes it sound like his voice is shaking. He has said the neurological disease began to affect him when he was 42. “I have a tremble in my

The neurological condition can cause people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to have voices that break and can sound “strangled.”