When the World Falls Away: One Woman’s Triumph Over Invisible Disability

Cheryl Schiltz is no stranger to silence—but not the peaceful kind. After a reaction to antibiotics destroyed her vestibular system—the part of the inner ear responsible for balance—Cheryl was plunged into a world of disorientation, instability, and invisible suffering. Even while lying down, she felt as if she were falling through space. The noise of disability wasn’t audible—it was internal, relentless, and isolating.

Lisa Malawski talks with Cheryl about her powerful book, Silencing the Noise of Disability, where Cheryl shares her deeply personal journey of loss, adaptation, and transformation. With raw honesty and poetic insight, she invites readers into the lived experience of invisible disability and the groundbreaking science that helped her reclaim her life.

Through her collaboration with neuroscientist Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita and the use of the BrainPort device—a tool that rerouted balance signals through her tongue—Cheryl became a living example of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself. Her story was also featured in Norman Doidge’s bestselling book The Brain That Changes Itself, but in Silencing the Noise of Disability, Cheryl tells it in her own voice.

“I didn’t just learn to walk again—I learned to live again.”

This book is more than a memoir. It’s a call to recognize the dignity and complexity of those living with invisible disabilities. It’s a celebration of science, spirit, and the human will to adapt.