If you've listened to any of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s public appearances, you may have noticed a quiver in his voice when he speaks.
That's the result of a rare neurological condition known as spasmodic dysphonia, which has afflicted Kennedy for decades.
"I have a tremble in my voice … particularly when I first start talking," Kennedy said in an interview on The Diane Rehm Show in 2004. (Rehm also has spasmodic dysphonia.)
Kennedy said that, earlier in his career, he would receive letters and emails from people who saw him on TV or heard him on the radio, and that three or four of those people suggested he might have spasmodic dysphonia. He later got an official diagnosis.
According to Dysphonia International, spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary spasms in the muscles that open and close a person's vocal cords, resulting in a "voice that presents with breaks and strained/strangled quality or breathy quality."
An estimated 50,000 people in North America are believed to have spasmodic dysphonia, the group says, and it affects more women than men. The cause of the condition is unknown.
An injection of botulinum toxin — or Botox — into a sufferer's vocal chords is one of the most common treatments for the disorder. Kennedy told The Diane Rehm Show in 2005 that he was receiving shots about every four months.
On Wednesday, Kennedy is scheduled to appear before the Senate Finance Committee in the first of two hearings on his nomination to become the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
He told the Los Angeles Times in an interview last year that he "can't stand" the sound of his voice now and that he feels "sorry" for people who hear him speak.
"My voice doesn't really get tired. It just sounds terrible. But the injury is neurological, so actually the more I use the voice the stronger it tends to get." Kennedy said.
He added: "If I could sound better, I would."
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad