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 condition called spasmodic dysphonia, which causes the sound of a raspy voice due to spasms in the vocal cords.

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