What to Know About Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Vocal Disorder Spasmodic Dysphonia

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia at age 42, causing his voice to become raspy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has an extremely hoarse voice.

The 70-year-old previously shared that his now signature raspiness is the result of a rare neurological disorder called spasmodic dysphonia, which he was diagnosed with in 1996.

“I had a very very strong voice until I was 46 years old. It was unusually strong,” he said during a news broadcast in June 2023. “It makes my voice tremble. At the time, I didn’t know what was wrong with it. But when I would go on TV, people would write me letters and say, ‘You have spasmodic dysphonia.’”

“I cannot listen to myself on TV,” he said at the time. “I will never listen to this broadcast, and I won’t listen to any. So I feel sorry for you guys having to listen to me.”

Spasmodic dysphonia is a chronic neurological speech disorder that results in involuntary spasms of the muscles that open or close the vocal folds. It causes the voice to suddenly sound breathy, strained, shaky or hoarse as if a person has lost their voice, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The disorder affects about 50,000 people in the United States and is more likely to impact women more than men. Although spasmodic dysphonia can start at any age, it typically occurs between ages 30 and 60.

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The exact cause of spasmodic dysphonia is unknown but most cases result from a trigger in the brain and nervous system.

According to the National Institutes of Health, spasmodic dysphonia may be hereditary. Although a specific gene for the disorder has not been identified, a mutation in a gene that causes other forms of dystonia has also been associated with spasmodic dysphonia.

There is no cure for spasmodic dysphonia and it is a lifelong condition. However, there are treatments to minimize these vocal cord spasms and help alleviate symptoms.

Botox injections — which is required every three to six months — and speech therapy are common forms of treatment. There are also more invasive treatment options, including a thyroplasty surgery or selective laryngeal adductor denervation-reinnervation (SLAD-R) surgery.

Last year, Kennedy said during an interview that he recently underwent a surgery in Japan to treat his disorder. Noting that the procedure is not yet available in the United States, he said he had titanium implanted between his vocal cords to keep them from constricting.

“I’ve done a lot of functional medicine stuff and I’ve worked with a chiropractor and I’ve worked with a lot of other people and my voice now is getting better and better,” he said. “And I think part of it was the surgery but also part of it was the therapies I’m doing now.”

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